 "KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant's tons light up Day 4 of Headingley Test as India set England 371 to win")
Generational talent Rishabh Pant indulged in self-reproach before becoming only the second wicketkeeper in the game’s history to score hundreds in both innings of a Test, helping India set England a tricky 371-run target in the series opener here on Monday.
Pant, the team’s unflappable maverick with innate confidence in his ability to dominate bowling attacks anywhere in the world, struck 118 off 140 balls and added 195 runs for the fourth wicket with the elegant KL Rahul, who constructed a hundred of his own on the fourth and penultimate day of the first Test.
However, India’s batting crumbled spectacularly for a second time in three days after the dismissal of the two second-innings centurions, as they were all out for 364 on a riveting day.
Ben Duckett (9 batting) and Zak Crawley (12 batting) reduced the target to 350 after England reached 21 for no loss at stumps.
India lost most of their wickets in the final session.
This was after the iconic ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles played softly in the background as Pant closed in on his eighth Test ton, eventually getting there with a single off 130 balls to join Zimbabwe legend Andy Flower as the only stumpers to achieve a remarkable feat.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭-𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡! 🙌🏻
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 23, 2025
Take a bow, @RishabhPant17, brilliant would be an understatement! 🫡🔥#ENGvIND 1st Test Day 4 LIVE NOW Streaming on JioHotstar 👉… pic.twitter.com/4A1Poe5jbC
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHaving curbed his natural instinct after attempting a flashy shot in the first session, Pant bid his time and switched gears post lunch to reach his second century in the match, following his magnificent 134 in the first innings.
He embarked on an adventure straightaway, but having endured few nervy moments, Pant exhibited a tenacity to stay put at the crease, before cutting loose to dominate the bowlers, who seemed to have run out of ideas in the face of his dazzling array of strokes.
Pant was finally dismissed when he found Zak Crawley at long-on off Shoaib Bashir, who was taken to the cleaners by the swashbuckling keeper-batter, who also became the first Indian to register two hundreds in a Test match in England.
Earlier in the day, Rahul, who was rewarded for his indefatigable resistance, produced a masterclass in timing and temperament, and played some sublime strokes that would have delighted the purists.
KL Rahul crafts a classy ton in testing conditions 💪 #SonySportsNetwork #GroundTumharaJeetHamari #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/b5TpQnjqgj
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) June 23, 2025
Ahead by 96 runs in the beginning, India were off to a disastrous start as they lost skipper Shubman Gill seven balls into the day’s play, but the English bowlers did not taste further success in the first session, though they kept testing the two batters with their probing line and length.
On a windy and cloudy morning at Headingley, Gill chopped Brydon Carse’s good-length delivery on to the stumps.
Coming off an elegant hundred in the first innings, Gill was rooted to the crease as the ball cramped him for room before disturbing the stumps. As he walked back to the dressing room, a dejected Gill stared at the place where the ball landed, wondering if it pitched on one of those cracks.
England were delighted to see the back of the India captain, which paved the way for the arrival of Pant, and he was his usual maverick self while attempting the audacious shots that define his batting.
Pant rode his luck as he charged down the ground to try and whack the fast bowlers, and while he could not connect the way he would have liked to initially, he got runs off them. Pant got off the mark with a thick outside edge off Chris Woakes that flew over the slip cordon.
The flamboyant keeper attempted the slog sweep, the trademark falling paddle sweep, and was also heard scolding himself in the stump mic after playing a reckless shot, which prompted Ben Stokes to seek a review.
“It is not important. If you want to hit, do it with a straight bat next ball. Why are you trying to score forcefully,” an annoyed Pant was caught saying on the stump mic.
The ball in question was too full and swinging, but it made contact with the bat before thudding into Pant’s pads, and the TV umpire ruled in his favour.
In fact Stokes, too, heard two noises but since the batter was Pant, the English captain opted to try his luck with a review.
Rahul looked calm, composed and self-assured at the other end, helping India swell the lead brick by brick, even as Pant mixed caution with aggression.
Luck too smiled on Rahul as Harry Brook dropped him at gully after the batter tried to steer a quick Josh Tongue delivery.
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