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Rishabh Pant is the toast of the town following his twin centuries in the Headingley Test against England. The left-handed batter is just the second wicketkeeper in the history of the game to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. The 27-year-old recorded scores of 134 and 118; however, this effort of the Indian vice-captain went in vain as England went down to chase 371 to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
However, the picture was totally different a few months back. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Pant had a rare bad outing as he managed just 255 runs in five Tests at an average of 28.33. The southpaw, who is known for his aggressive approach with the bat, managed just 24 fours and 6 sixes in the entire series, which India lost 1-3.
According to a report in the Times of India, Rishabh Pant realised the need for change in his ways after the Melbourne Test, where he was criticised for playing irresponsible shots in both innings. His first-innings dismissal, where he tried to play a falling ramp shot, was criticised by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. The latter's rant of ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ went instantly viral.
Rishabh Pant then warmed the bench in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy as he didn't play a single match of the eight-team tournament, which India won by defeating New Zealand in the final.
According to the Times of India, Pant decided to uninstall WhatsApp in March 2025, and he even turned his phone off. He only turned his phone on when he needed to contact somebody.
Rishabh Pant, who captained Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), did not even aggregate 300 runs in the entire edition. His numbers would have looked all the more abysmal had he not scored a century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final league stage.
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However, Pant's return to the whites has resulted in a change of fortunes, and the Indian vice-captain has started the England series with a bang.
Rishabh Pant's punishing routine
India's former strength and conditioning coach, Sohum Desai, revealed that Pant put himself through a punishing routine to improve his fitness. He said the left-hander did the hard yards even when he warmed the bench in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy.
“He did the most intense sessions day in and day out. He dragged me into the gym whenever he was free. He didn't care about fatigue or work-loaded programmes. All he said was he needed to keep working on himself. On the day of the final, he came to me with some kind of guilt in his mind and asked if he could take the day off. I said it was high time that he did,” Desai told Times of India.
"Pant has so much reserve that he will be fine for at least a year without having to do anything extraordinary. That's why you see him moving around so well despite scoring two hundreds and keeping wickets for so long in the Headingley Test.
Due to his twin centuries in the Leeds Test against England, Pant achieved a career-best Test ICC ranking. He is now in seventh position in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.
India and England will now square off in the second Test of the five-match series, beginning July 2 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
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