Gambhir Told to Pull Pant Aside: ‘Your Lower‑Order Can’t Contribute — Next Time You’re at 130…’

Gambhir Told to Pull Pant Aside: Rishabh Pant had a Test to remember as he scored two centuries in the Headingley Test against England. But it was all in vain as England chased 371 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. He is now only the second wicketkeeper-batter after Andy Flower to score hundreds in both innings of a Test.

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels Rishabh Pant now needs to think about the lower order, not throwing away his wicket. In the Headingley Test, Pant scored 134 and 118.

Pant is now the seventh Indian to score two centuries in a Test and joins the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli in an elite list. He has also gone past MS Dhoni to score the most centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests.

In both innings, India had the game in their pocket, but a lower-order collapse gave England a way back. In the first innings, the last seven wickets fell for 41 runs, and in the second innings, the last six wickets fell for 31 runs for India.

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In the first innings, India went from 430/3 to 471 all out and in the second innings from 333/4 to 364.

“Rishabh Pant scored twin hundreds; he joins an elite list of batters. Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli are all in the list, and Rishabh Pant has now joined them. Rishabh Pant now has the highest number of centuries as an Indian wicketkeeper-batter,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’.

“Rishabh had a fantastic game, but I would like to repeat that he has a great defence. There is not even one shot in the book that he cannot play,” he added.

Ashwin also said if he was in Gautam Gambhir’s shoes he would pull Pant aside and tell him to score double hundreds as the lower order is not contributing much.

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“I sometimes feel if I was Gautam Gambhir, I would take him aside and tell him, 'you played exceptionally well and I would have loved to be the batter with the ability that you have' but can I request you to make a double hundred next time when you are batting at 130 because you know the lower-order cannot contribute much. That would be the only request I would make of Rishabh. What a talented player,” said Ashwin.

The former India spinner, who retired from international cricket in December 2024, said Pant should not be compared with MS Dhoni as the latter never batted at No.5 as he was more of a keeper-batter.

“Comparing MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant is not fair. MS Dhoni never batted at No.5. MS Dhoni was a keeper-batter, and I would say Pant is a batter-keeper. There are a lot of differences in that,” said Ashwin.

“Rishabh Pant should be compared with the likes of Virat Kohli. He is a main batter. The time and skill Pant has, when he is batting, look at the time he has against the pacers,” he added.

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