IND vs ENG / When Pant went from 'Stupid' to 'Superb', Sunil Gavaskar's tone changed in just 6 months

IND vs ENG: When the Indian team was on a tour of Australia six months ago, the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was played on the historic ground of Melbourne between 26 to 30 December 2024. In that match, Rishabh Pant gave his wicket to Scott Boland by playing a very irresponsible and bad shot in the second innings. At that time, legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who was present in the commentary box, had strongly criticized Pant. He said loudly three times in anger – "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!". This video made a lot of headlines on social media.

But times changed, the stage changed and Pant also changed. Now on the tour of England, Rishabh Pant showed such batting that the same Sunil Gavaskar became his fan.

Pant's rebirth-like comeback in England

Rishabh Pant made a tremendous comeback in the first Test match being played against England at Headingley ground in Leeds. On the second day of the match, he scored the seventh century of his Test career and that too in his familiar style with a strong six. After the century, Pant also celebrated by doing a somersault on the field, which was no less than a thrill for the audience.

Sunil Gavaskar, who was doing commentary, was so impressed by Pant's courageous innings that he praised him in the same manner in which he had criticized earlier. This time Gavaskar said - "Superb, Superb, Superb!". His statement and reaction went viral on social media and fans called it a 'full circle moment'.

Batsmen shine in India's first innings

The Indian team got off to a great start by batting first in the first Test. Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and captain Shubman Gill (147) scored excellent centuries. At the same time, Pant played an explosive innings of 134 runs and took India to a strong score. KL Rahul also made an important contribution of 42 runs.

India's first innings ended at 471 runs. For England, Josh Tongue and captain Ben Stokes took 4-4 wickets, while Brydon Carse and Shoaib Bashir took 1-1 wickets.

From criticism to inspiration and then praise

This journey of Rishabh Pant is not just a story of a century, but it is an example of self-improvement, patience and answering your critics with performance. After the disappointment of Melbourne, the happiness of Headingley can prove to be a turning point in his career.