Rishabh Pant shined with the bat on Day 1 of India’s first Test against England at Headingley in Leeds on Friday, June 20. The wicketkeeper-batter used two maximums and six boundaries to stay undefeated at 65 runs off 102 balls. He and captain Shubman Gill shared an undefeated 138-run stand for the fourth wicket during his knock. Additionally, the 27-year-old scored 3,000 runs in Test matches.
Fans, in especially, were astounded by Pant’s antics as he hammered a six off Chris Woakes to begin the final over of the opening day. A length ball on the stumps was hit over the deep square leg fielder for a maximum by the left-hander as he danced down the track. The bowler’s eyes were astounded, and captain Ben Stokes smiled wryly.
On X, a user wrote:
“I swear Rishabh Pant is the luckiest person alive. Only he can survive his cricket. I don’t think half of his shots even have a proper term for it.”
Another user commented:
“Rishabh Pant is a mad man, dancing down to Woakes, second new ball, last over of the day… and launches him for six over deep square! Built different.”
A third user added:
“Rishabh Pant in test cricket is different Gravy.”
Here are a few more reactions:
Most Test runs in SENA by Asian WKs
1732 – 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁*
1731 – MS Dhoni
1099 – F Engineer
850 – Mohd Rizwan
831 – Dinesh Chandimal#INDvsENG #INDvsENGTest #Pant #RishabhPant #YashasviJaiswal #ShubmanGill #BenStokes pic.twitter.com/GyKQm4jkiD
— Tit For Tat (@TitForTat_1234) June 20, 2025Only two Indians now have 3000+ runs as a wicketkeeper in Tests:
MS Dhoni
Rishabh Pant
Elite company pic.twitter.com/vfSGvT259l
— SIVY 🇮🇳 (@Sivy_Raina3) June 20, 2025Brendon McCullum must feel very conflicted when watching Rishabh Pant bat. He's a carbon copy of Baz. Down to the way he charges at fast bowlers😅
— Malome (@MABOTESKOENA) June 20, 2025Call him “Stupid Stupid Stupid” or “idiot idiot idiot”, Pant doesn’t change
Mixed emotions as Indian cricket fan🥲🤣😂😅🙃😝😏😡😭🤩😱🫣
Last over of the day
All batters: let’s play carefully
Le Rishabh Pant : comes down the track & smashes a six #INDvsENG | #RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/nV47rhVRvo
— Abhi (@abhi_is_online) June 20, 2025Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant power India to strong finish on Day 1 of 1st Test vs England
In the Test opener against England, India ended Day 1 with a commanding batting performance from captain Shubman Gill and his deputy Rishabh Pant during the afternoon session. Leading from the lead, captain Gill scored an undefeated 127 runs off 175 deliveries in a knock that included 16 boundaries and one six.
Earlier in the day, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 101 runs off 159 balls, including one maximum and 16 fours. KL Rahul, his opening partner, contributed 42 (78) as well. Together, they scored 91 runs for the first wicket. On his debut, though, Sai Sudharsan left for a four-ball duck.
On the first day at stumps Indian were at 359/3 in 85 overs with Gill and Pant at the crease. England captain Ben Stokes has earned the title of leading wicket-taker on the first day as he made a two-wicket comeback after the team skipper won the toss and decided to bowl in the first day of the first series. The hosts other successful bowler was Brydon Carse who got one wicket.
