Rishabh Pant smashed twin centuries in the first Test against England at Headingley. Indian vice-captain inscribed his name in the record books by becoming only the second wicketkeeper in Test cricket to register centuries in both innings of a match with 134 and 118. India could not win despite his heroics, as England chased down 371 successfully to win the first game of the five-match series 1-0.
Pant’s revival follows a lean patch earlier in the year. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, the left-hander had a lean spell, scoring just 255 runs at 28.33 in five Tests. Famed for his aggressive strokeplay, Pant was remarkably restrained, scoring just 24 boundaries and six sixes during the series. India ended up losing the series 1-3.
The criticism reached a crescendo after Melbourne’s Test, when Pant was criticized for erratic shot choices most famously a failed ramp shot in the first innings that invited blistering criticism from former skipper Sunil Gavaskar, who branded the choice of shots “stupid” in a viral on-air outburst.
According to The Times of India, Pant chose to undergo a dramatic transformation in March 2025—deleting WhatsApp and keeping his phone off for long stretches of time, only using it for call of duty communication. That was part of his larger mental reboot following months of criticism and subpar performance.
India’s former strength and conditioning coach, Sohum Desai highlighted that Pant gave himself very hard time and did intense practice sessions all day long.
“He did the most intense sessions day in and day out. He dragged me into the gym whenever he was free. He didn’t care about fatigue or work-loaded programmes. All he said was he needed to keep working on himself. On the day of the final, he came to me with some kind of guilt in his mind and asked if he could take the day off. I said it was high time that he did,” Sohum Desai told Times of India.
“Pant has so much reserve that he will be fine for at least a year without having to do anything extraordinary. That’s why you see him moving around so well despite scoring two hundreds and keeping wickets for so long in the Headingley Test.”
