Rishabh Pant in danger? Surgeon issues stern warning over unnecessary somersault celebration
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After the retirement of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the longest format of the game, Rishabh Pant was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian Test side. Under the reign of the new skipper and vice-captain, Pant has led the Indian batting unit from the front.
Pant got two hundreds in both innings of the Headingley Test. He batted alongside Shubman Gill in the first innings to post a huge 200-run partnership between the captain and vice-captain. This was followed by another crucial partnership between Pant and KL Rahul in the second innings of play.
Rishabh scored two hundreds, 134 runs in the first innings and 118 in the second innings at Leeds. After his hundred in the first innings, he pulled off a somersault celebration in his style, just like he did after his IPL ton for LSG.
However, the somersault is a tough move for a man of Rishabh Pant's body, and his surgeon, who performed the surgery after the horrific accident back in 2022, has insights on how hectic the move can be.
Rishabh Pant's surgeon hints at the risk of his somersault celebration
After Rishabh Pant had a serious car accident back on the 30th of December 2022, when he was driving his Mercedes-Benz SUV on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, it supposedly collided with a central divider and caught fire.
Though Pant survived, he sustained multiple injuries, including a right knee ligament tear, facial lacerations, and more. Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala operated on him after the accident.
Dr. Pardiwala opened up to The Telegraph, "Rishabh trained as a gymnast. Although he looks large, he is quite agile, and he does have a lot of flexibility. And, that’s why he’s been doing those somersaults of late.”
“It’s a well-practised and perfected move – unnecessary though!” added Pant's surgeon, reflecting on the carnage faced by Pant due to the horrific accident that kept him out of the game for nearly 16 months.
Rishabh Pant's record-smashing twin hundreds
Rishabh Pant has joined the elite list of batters among visiting players like Don Bradman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Steve Smith, Hansie Cronje, Kumar Sangakkara, and Daryl Mitchell to have scored five 50+ scores in England.
Pant has the most number of hundreds in England as a visiting wicket-keeper batsman; he has four hundreds, which equals the likes of Matt Prior and Alex Stewart, both being English wicket-keepers.
Pant has the third-most hundreds as a wicket-keeper batsman in Test cricket, only behind the likes of former greats Andy Flower and Adam Gilchrist.
Rishabh Pant's 252 surpassed the highest score by an Indian batter against England, while this was the fourth-highest Test score by a wicket-keeper in Tests, as the three scores before this belonged to Andy Flower.
Pant becomes the second wicket-keeper batsman to score twin hundreds in a Test match after Andy Flower. With this, Pant now has the second-most hundreds for India in Tests on English soil.
Sanjay Manjrekar backed Rishabh Pant to shine in Birmingham
Former Indian cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar recently backed Pant to shine in England. He referred to twin hundreds, and said that the players with such a magnificent performance are usually high on confidence.
Pant has been backed by the former cricketer to keep up with his good form in the Birmingham Test against England.
ALSO READ: England legend predicts doomsday for Shubman Gill in Tests without Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah
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