Ben Stokes, the captain of the home team, has shown his respect for India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant ahead of the second Test match between India and England, which is scheduled to start at Edgbaston on July 2. Even the opposition has praised Pant’s aggressive style of cricket after his historic performance in the first Test at Headingley, where he scored twin hundreds (134 in the first innings and 118 in the second).
Even though India lost the first game of the series, Pant’s performance gave them a good chance to win. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Pant all scored hundreds to help the visitors to a first-innings total of 471, but England defeated them by five wickets after chasing down a record 371 in the fourth innings. India were in the game until the very end because to Pant’s knocks in both innings. Stokes talked candidly about the 27-year-old in an interview with the media prior to the second Test.
“Watching Rishabh Pant play cricket is something I adore.” I adore how he tackles it across all game modes. He has had some setbacks in his career, but when you let that kind of potential to flourish, it can happen, as it did last week,” Ben Stokes said.
Notably, when the Indian batsman hit a boundary against Stokes in the first innings, the England captain and Pant were on the same pitch. Ben Stokes grinned when the shot smashed over the bowler’s head.
“He deserves praise for scoring two hundreds in the game. Given the way Rishabh plays, we are confident that we will have our chances. If one of those bullets had gone straight into a hand, it could have looked a little different on another day. However, the player is extremely hazardous. We are aware of his contributions to the Indian squad. I love to see him,” he continued.
Ben Stokes stayed focused on his team and declined to comment on the opposition’s lineup when questioned about India’s potential team changes and Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the second Test.
“India has to deal with that issue. I am England’s captain. Let India make its own decisions about what it wants to do and say in public,” he continued.
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