‘Not required to play like this, ok?’ – Rishabh Pant motivates himself after risky attempt against Brydon Carse

India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Day 4 of the first Test against England at Headingley was seen giving a self pep talk and urging himself not to play risky shots.

The visitors resumed the day on the back foot after losing captain Shubman Gill early on 8. Meanwhile, Pant, fresh off a hundred in the first innings, once again took the attack on England. Meanwhile, the self-motivation incident took place after the southpaw went for a slog-sweep against Brydon Carse but survived the lbw appeal. He was caught on stump mic, saying “

“It’s a straight ball, Rishabh, not required to play like this, ok? If you want to hit, you will be able to smash it straight. Forcefully, you are trying to hit it with the wind (Waise zaroori nahi hai. Maarna hai to seedha lag jayega na next ball. Zabardasti try kar raha hai),” Pant told himself as he heard on the stump mic.

Pant registers numerous records

However, Pant went on to notch up his second century of the match, 118 off 140 balls in the second innings after a 134-run knock in the first. With that, he became only the second wicketkeeper in Test history, after Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower, to score centuries in both innings. He also became the first Indian to achieve the feat in England and only the ninth visiting batter overall.

With 252 runs across both innings, he now holds the record for the most runs by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test match. It was also his eighth Test hundred, tying with England’s Les Ames and trailing only Adam Gilchrist (17) and Andy Flower (12) among wicketkeeper-batters.

His partnership with KL Rahul, who made a 137 off 247 balls, took the visitors to a strong position. Rahul hammered his third Test century in England, surpassing legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid. However, their dismissals triggered a batting collapse. From 333/5, India were bundled out for 364 by stumps, handing England a target of 371.