Ind vs Eng Day 2: Pant scores hundred but England grab four wickets to keep India to 454/7 at lunch
Rishabh Pant unfurled a remarkable hundred while Shubman Gill carved his highest Test score, but a spirited England grabbed four wickets to keep the free-flowing visitors to 454 for seven at lunch on the second day of the first match on Saturday (June 21, 2025).
Skipper Gill (147) and his deputy Pant (134) were largely untroubled as India added 95 runs to their overnight 359/3, before both the batters perished as the home bowlers regained a semblance of direction.
Ravindra Jadeja (2 batting) was at crease as Shardul Thakur (1) got out to Ben Stokes off the final ball ahead of the break.
Pant, who started the day on 65, took over the mantle from Gill, who was happy to cede the majority of the strike to his partner.
The left-hander, who milked 209 runs for the fourth wicket with Gill, was at his entertaining best, starting his cavalier ways with a stunning falling paddle off spinner Bashir behind stumper Jamie Smith.
Smith was in action a little later when he missed a simple stumping chance off Bashir, to get rid of Pant when the batter was at 124.
But by that time, Pant had stamped his authority on the game in his inimitable way and Bashir bore the full force of his innovative fury.
A six over mid-wicket carried him to 94, and the 90s is a rather troubled territory for Pant as he was dismissed seven times in Test cricket on that score in his career.
So, it was not really surprising to see him taking singles until he reached 99.
Pant then possibly decided not to waste too much time, and summoned that one-handed six off Bashir to go past the 100-run mark for the seventh time in his career.
In doing so, he also went past former captain MS Dhoni (6 centuries) in scoring the most number of hundreds by any Indian wicketkeeper in Tests.
But Gill's departure, a workmanlike hag off Bashir which ended with Josh Tongue at backward square leg, gave England a slight opening. However, the 147 was the new Indian captain's highest individual score in the red-ball format, going past the 128 he made against Australia at Ahmedabad in 2023.
Karun Nair had the finest platform imaginable to re-launch his Test career after a hiatus of eight years, but he lasted just four balls for a naught.
However, India suffered a heavy blow in the dying minutes of the pre-lunch session when Tongue trapped a shuffling Pant in front of the wicket for 134, and it tilted the session's balance ever so slightly to England's favour.
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