ENG vs IND: If India Wins The Edgbaston Test Then You Have To Put This In Same Brackets Of Gabba - Wasim Jaffer On Rishabh Pant's Ton

Former Indian player Wasim Jaffer opined that if the Indian team manages to win the final Test at Edgbaston then Rishabh Pant’s knock should be considered in the very similar ranks to the one played at the Gabba last year.

Pant scored 146 in 111 deliveries, with the help of 20 boundaries and four sixes, to bail the visitors out from slumping in the first innings. He was involved in a crucial stand of 222 runs with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (83 not out) for the sixth wicket as India finished the day at 338/7.

Rishabh Pant and the tale of big knocks on big occasions

Pant charged down against Anderson to hit a boundary straight down the ground and took a toll on Jack Leach, smashing him sixes over the head and raced to his fifth Test hundred in just 89 balls. Pant broke the record of MS Dhoni to register the fastest Test century by an Indian wicketkeeper, the latter had set the record in 93 balls against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 2006.

Pant was the architect behind India’s thrilling victory at the Gabba as he remained unbeaten on 89 with nine fours and a six. He ensured he finished the game for India despite wickets kept tumbling from the other end as India chased 328 in the fourth innings to clinch the four-game series 2-1 and retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

If India wins this, you’ve got to put this in the same bracket as Gabba: Wasim Jaffer on Rishabh Pant’s blistering knock

Ahead of that historic win, India had never defeated Australia at Gabba and now they target Edgbaston as they are yet to beat England at that particular venue.

“If India go on to win the Test and series, this will stand on top of everything (Pant’s best knocks). It is hard to put anything in front of that Gabba innings. But if India wins this, you’ve got to put this in the same bracket as Gabba,” Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo.

“He (Rishabh Pant) has played some outstanding knocks. He takes things head-on and changes the complexion of the game. You’ve got to give it to him and the Indian management as well. They have given him that freedom and he has repaid that faith in a big way,” Jaffer added. 

Earlier in the day’s play, Anderson picked wickets of Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer and Matthew Potts supported him with the dismissals of Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli as the tourists were hanging by a thread at 98/5 at one stage before Pant and Jadeja rescued them from the precarious position.

Also Read: ENG vs IND: Watch – Rishabh Pant’s Thrilling Knock Brought To An End By Joe Root