Chappell Hails Pant's 'Phenomenal' Innings, Compares Him to Gilchrist After Headingley Heroics

Former India coach and Australian cricket legend Greg Chappell has showered praise on **Rishabh Pant**, following the wicketkeeper-batter's remarkable twin centuries at Headingley. Chappell hailed Pant as a **game-changer**, drawing parallels between his impact and that of Australian great Adam Gilchrist.

Pant, who now serves as India's Test vice-captain, etched his name in the record books as only the second wicketkeeper-batter, after Zimbabwe's Andy Flower, to achieve the feat of scoring a century in each innings of a Test match. His explosive batting display stood out as one of the most remarkable performances in the series opener at Headingley, despite India succumbing to a five-wicket defeat against the hosts on Day 5.

"The beauty of it (Pant's batting) is that he gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. It was a phenomenal performance; some of the shots that he played probably weren't in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it," Chappell remarked at an event in Mumbai.

Chappell believes Pant is revolutionizing Test batting with his fearless approach. He leverages modern bats and his own natural talent.

“He is reinventing the game as a batter. You know, modern technology, the bats are very different.

You can play shots that weren’t possible with the old bats. But man, he’s exciting to watch,” he added.

Pant's unpredictable approach also impressed Chappell. “You never quite know what to expect from the first ball at any stage. He’s likely to jump down the wicket to the pacers, or he’ll play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect, so it keeps the opposition on their toes,” he explained.

Reflecting on his initial assessment of the left-handed batsman, Chappell recalled, "When I first saw him, he was a different sort of player, of course, but he reminded me very much of Adam Gilchrist."

Pant's twin centuries propelled him to a career-best seventh position in the ICC Test rankings for batters. India will aim to capitalize on his explosive form in the second Test.