"If Rishabh Pant will take the sword"- Ravichandran Ashwin sends an open threat to Gautam Gambhir

Legendary Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his thoughts on witnessing Rishabh Pant's batting from the dressing room.

The wicket-keeper's fearless attitude and outrageous shot play often keep the team members on their toes who witness it from the dressing room. Though the batter might have a clear mindset about his form of the game, the ones in the dugout are often left biting their nails for such crunch situations.

Ravichandran Ashwin made this remark following Rishabh Pant's audacious hundred in the second innings of the first India vs England test at Headingley. This was Pant's second hundred of the match; however, it was filled with moments of utmost courage and audacious strokeplay, as his bravery was favored by his fortunes.

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A brief visit to Rishabh Pant's stunning innings

Rishabh Pant might not have had the best of starts to his Test season this year, as he failed to be promising in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pant's performance was severely under scrutiny after a forgettable IPL season.

Pant, despite being the costliest player of the season, thrived for runs and could show some promising return only in the last league stage game against RCB. However, since then, Pant has dominated with back-to-back hundreds.

In skipper Shubman Gill's new India Playing 11, Rishabh Pant holds a crucial place, promoted to a new position at no. 5.

Going into the first test of India's tour to England, Pant came into bat when India looked good after having made a formidable start to the innings. The stage was set with Jaiswal given the early jolt with a terrific hundred, followed by a show from captain Shubman Gill.

On a relatively flat track, Rishabh Pant looked on the charge from the very beginning of his innings. Known widely for his on-field antics, Rishabh Pant scored a hundred on his return to international cricket, which marked his third test hundred in England.

After a sublime innings in the first innings, Pant put on a stunning show in the second innings as well. Following the early dismissal of Shubman Gill on Day 4, Pant, alongside KL Rahul, again went on to put up a big partnership for the fourth wicket.

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Ravichandran Ashwin opens up on enjoying Rishabh Pant's innings

After an early struggle in front of the English pacers, Pant changed gears and tapped along with his unorthodox style of play. From his attempt to slog sweep Brydon Carse to repeated advancement down the wicket, Pant did everything that doesn't fit into the cricket textbooks.

"His modus operandi has always been up for questioning. Against Brydon Carse he played a slog sweep which did not seem like percentage cricket, which Dinesh (Karthik) did mention. Very questionable tactics, but that's the way he's been going about his business," Ravi Ashwin brought to notice with a video on his X handle.

To this, Ashwin clarified, saying he relishes watching Rishabh Pant bat, though his style might be very questionable. However, he stresses the feeling of Indian team members who sit back watching Pant bat from the dressing room.

"If he's going to take the sword, might as well judge him by the performances and not by how he does it. As a fan, as someone watching the game away from close quarters of the dressing room, I am enjoying it. But it could be very nervy sitting in the dressing room if you are a coach, or if you are one of those players who wants to bowl in that fourth innings, it could be really, really tense," added Ashwin.

Where does the India vs England First Test stand on Day 5?

Having been bowled out for just 364 runs despite hundreds from Indian stars KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, India could pose a target of only 371 runs to the English batters in the final innings of play.

India took a lead of 6 runs over England at the end of their batting innings. However, English openers Ben Duckett and Zack Crawley have given England the desired start. England now needs 350 runs to win the game at the start of Day 5, while India needs to bowl them out at Headingley.