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India vs England 5th Test: Rishabh Pant, Jadeja symphony carries visitors to solidity on Day 1 at Edgbaston

India vs England 5th Test: Rishabh Pant made a stunning 146 and Ravindra Jadeja a fine 83 as India posted 338 for 7 on Day 1 of the 5th Test at Edgbaston.

Rishabh Pant

Birmingham, July 1: Rahul Dravid’s face mirrors no emotion — well, almost! When your team slips to 98/5 any coach might appear restless, tearing a few strands of hair, but not Dravid.

The India head coach kept gazing at the ground, occasionally jotting down something on a book. But even that stoic man had to let his guard down, jump up with his hands aloft as Rishabh Pant scrambled and dived for his second run to complete his 5th Test hundred on Day 1 of the 5th Test against England at Edgbaston.

There are some nice nuggets around Pant’s 100. It was the fastest by an Indian wicketkeeper batsman, second fastest by any wicketkeeper batsman in the history of the game after Adam Gilchrist.

Those are heady stats for a 24-year-old batter, even though he has already played 31 Tests and has more than 2000 runs. But Dravid was not moved by those numbers or records, after all he himself had seen some pretty high numbers as a cricketer.

Dravid might have been able to identify himself with that Pant’s innings of 146 for more qualitative reasons — back to the wall (no pun here), bailing the team out from a desperate situation and full of character.

But the young ward on Friday (July 1) did not follow the over-my-body principles which Dravid largely followed as a batsman, but he ran a truck over an unsuspecting England.

The signs of a special day came when Pant targeted an English veteran of many battles.

Last year, Pant had played that outrageous reverse lap off James Anderson at Ahmedabad. But at Edgbaston, Pant played a more conventional shot, conventional in Pant’s world that is, as he mashed the ball over Anderson’s head for a four.

The England pace great chuckled and murmured something to Pant when he took a single later in the over.

Perhaps, Anderson was slipping in a cute, little sledge or it might just have been a plain platitude for the batter’s audaciousness. But that is just one part of his innings as the left-hander choked the bowlers with a feathery pillow too.

That moment of delicateness came soon. Jack Leach bowled on the pads of Pant and the left-hander turned the ball to mid-wicket with a rather casual-looking flick of wrists.

But the ball raced to the fence off the bat, as later Harsha Bhogle bemused in the official broadcaster Sony: “I never thought it will go for 4.”

But the timing, power and placement on that shot was just perfect. It was quite apt then too that the shot came off Leach. Pant later donked him for 20 runs with a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 6, and that last six was a one-handed clamour over long-on. Contemptuous even!

This innings has to be read along with his wobbling fortunes in the white ball formats. Pant has the game that can make him an instant hit in the T20s and ODIs — big hits, innovative and fearless.

Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja

But it has not come off of late. Perhaps, the shorter formats are too busy and do not allow him the mind space to think and pace his game as those matches come in a flurry.

In a rather strange way, the Day 1 at Edgbaston offered him that. Of course, Pant came out when India were 71 for 4 and soon the situation mothballed into 98 for 5 as Anderson showcased his tricks.

The Pant-Jadeja pair was India’s last set of recognised batters and their task was clear — rebuild the innings. The clarity about the path ahead of him might have liberated Pant of doubts and hesitance that were clogging his mind.

The result was shining too — a massive 222-run alliance off just 239 balls, the highest 6th wicket partnership for India against England. You would not have expected that from Pant and Jadeja, who deserves as much pats as his partner for playing the hero’s brother role to perfection.

Once Pant entered his zone, the England bowlers were reduced to a confused, tired lot. After all, they were playing this brand of cricket recently against New Zealand. Here India were scoring at nearly 5 runs an over despite losing half the side for nothing much.

But when Pant finds his own rhythm the situation, pitch and opponents hardly matter as England found out here.

India galloped to 338 for 7 on the back of Pant’s bravery and Jadeja’s stubbornness. Pant did not see off the day as an expansive drive off Joe Root ended his tenure.

The relief on England players’ faces told the effect of Pant’s brute innings.

Story first published: Saturday, July 2, 2022, 1:08 [IST]
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