On the first day of a fifth Test which took place ten months after the fourth, the Indian wicketkeeper scored a ferocious 146 to drag his side from 98-for-five to 338-for-seven at stumps and this New England a dose of their own. medicine after driving around Headingley and Trent Bridge for a fortnight in New Zealand.
After a two-hour rain delay following an opening session that saw points scored in a relative throwback three-to-over, Pant shared a blistering 222 collaboration with Ravi Jadeja (83*), crashing 19 fours and four sixes in his innings of 111 balls.
England didn’t shy away from the attack at first and kept up late into the day with adventurous, funky pitches, sometimes taking five slips during a fruitful first half of it. But in the final hour of Pants masterclass, perhaps the first in the Stokes-McCullum era, they looked helpless.
To their credit, they got in late, Pant’s firing for Joe Root’s spin, followed quickly by Shardul Thakur’s to a Stokes sniffer. They remain well in the game: England conceded 553 in the first innings of a Test just a few weeks ago and won by five wickets, and after the escapades of Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell appear to have accepted stubborn sixth-wicket partnerships as an occupational hazard.
But after the opening day of one of the most contextually bizarre Tests ever played, India is close to the top as they look to wrap up a famous series win, having held a 2-1 lead since September last year when they withdrew from the final, only hours before the scheduled start, citing Covid cases in the camp.
A lot has happened since then, especially in the leadership of the two sides, both of which have new head coaches and new captains, although India’s Rohit Sharma doesn’t even play here, Jasprit Bumrah fills in and Cheteshwar Pujara remembers opening the battle as the skipper recovers from the virus.
Both Pujara (13) and partner Shubman Gill (17) were caught in a shortened session by Zak Crawley in James Anderson’s briefs, while the skittish No3 Hanuma Vihari was lucky enough to get through the rain delay but didn’t get the morning much further, pinned by Matthew Potts for 20 in the third over after the resumption.
After losing Kane Williamson three times in the New Zealand series, the Durham sailor soon had Virat Kohli’s scalp as well, the former Indian skipper’s rut continued as he only hooked up to 11. It’s only July 1, but already Potts is a slot like Find of the Summer.
Shreyas Iyer was next to go, strangled down the side of the leg in an intentional trick for 15 to give Anderson his third wicket, the catch beautiful one-handed by diving Sam Billings. It was a beautiful moment for the Kent keeper, who wins his third cap here, but the first one not preceded by a crazy cross-country dash to answer an SOS.
However, the counterattack had already begun, signaled by the mere arrival at Pant’s fold. No Indian player would feel more at home in this arrogant side of England, with the same kind of philosophical and stylistic synergy that made it inevitable that Luis Suarez would one day play for Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid.
After tea, with the lights on and the clouds over but no ball or pitching to much effect, Pant set the tone by driving Potts’ second ball for four and soon backed up Anderson before storming off the track and the unamused 39 year old tied up. old back over his head for another frontier.
At times he was almost too aggressive for his own good, overbalancing in his attempt to slam Leach into the arena, then ramped up a century of 89 balls with a somewhat perilous second run that would have done a seemingly troublesome hamstring no favors.
As the sun came back up, the runs poured in and Pant cashed in as England let the standards slip. One time Jack Leach was over involved four overthrows and three boundary crossings, the last of which was a ridiculous six with one hand, so unbelievable it was instantly in vogue this English summer.
The purest demonstration of “Bazball” may be yet to come: by winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Stokes ensured that his side may have another chance to show their chasing skills in the fourth innings of this match, after they all three Tests in the New Zealand series struck last.
But in Pant, England, for the first time in this brief revolution, has met a player capable of playing them at their own game.