‘Can't celebrate like Rishabh Pant, or bat like him': Ex-India players react to viral handspring celebration

Rishabh Pant's handspring celebration — as much as his 178-ball 134 — was one of the highlights of Saturday's action in the Headingley Test at Leeds. After the wicketkeeper-batter scored his seventh Test ton on the way to helping India score 471 against England in the first innings, he celebrated by doing a very acrobatic handspring that a gymnast would be proud of. Former India cricketers like Ravi Shastri, Dinesh Karthik, and Cheteshwar Pujara were left awestruck by the acrobatic celebration from Pant.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri's verdict on the celebration was simple.
'Nothing wrong in that. That's him. Let him be. You know, he's different. At a very young age, he did a lot of gymnastics,' said the former India cricketer and coach, who now sits in the commentary booth, while talking to BCCI's social media team. He then joked: 'Even if I might have tried it (the handspring), I think I might have… (but) it would have been to go into the pool.'
📸🤸‍♂️
Ending Day 2 with a 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩-𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 celebration 🥳
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/CuzAEnBkyu#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/LV0ipCyR1E
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 21, 2025
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India cricketer Pujara added: 'Rishabh being Rishabh, he does something unique. He does it really well. I think it was unique. No one expected him to do that. I've never tried it. I'll need a lot of practice because that is something if you haven't tried, you can't do it.'
Karthik, meanwhile, was astounded by both of Pant's feats on Day 2 of the first India vs England Test, his swashbuckling century and the flamboyant celebration.
READ MORE: Why handspringing Rishabh Pant is a box-office superstar in traditional Leeds
'Neither could I do the somersault handspring like him, nor can I bat like him,' said Karthik, a former India wicketkeeper-batter himself. 'I think on both fronts (keeping and batting) he has exceeded expectations. It's quite an effort to do that, actually. And he does it consistently.'
Karthik then added: 'When I was very young, my parents did make me participate in gymnastics and I did try and I was an utter failure at that. So, let's just leave it there because he (Pant) is doing it so much nicer when he celebrates it.'

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