Rishabh Pant has accomplished something sensational. He has made history by becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to hit a century in both innings of a Test match on English soil. No Indian had ever done it before. Pant played in his normal aggressive fashion in both innings, leaving the English bowlers dazed. In the first innings, he completed his century in 126 balls and went on to score a magnificent 134. In the second innings, he completed his century in 130 balls, scoring 2 sixes and 13 fours. Through this innings, Pant has overtaken four great wicketkeeper-batters in the list of most centuries.
Twin hundreds for the swashbuckling Rishabh Pant in the first #ENGvIND Test 🥳
— ICC (@ICC) June 23, 2025
📝: https://t.co/FXxW1HkGLm pic.twitter.com/nLk7WRWyID
Pant Overtakes Four Greats
With his new century, Rishabh Pant now has 7 Test centuries, becoming the fourth-highest century wicketkeeper in the world. He has surpassed BJ Watling, Kumar Sangakkara, Matt Prior, and AB de Villiers. Australia’s Adam Gilchrist holds the record for the most centuries in Test cricket by a wicketkeeper with 17 centuries. Here is the list of top wicketkeeper-century getters:
- Adam Gilchrist (Australia) – 17 centuries
- Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) – 12 centuries
- Les Ames (England) – 8 centuries
- AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 7 centuries
- Matt Prior (England) – 7 centuries
- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 7 centuries
- BJ Watling (New Zealand) – 7 centuries
- Rishabh Pant (India) – 7 centuries
- Quinton de Kock (South Africa) – 7 centuries
- MS Dhoni (India) – 6 centuries
- Kamran Akmal (Pakistan) – 6 centuries
- Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh) – 6 centuries
Consistency in Both Innings
Pant, who is playing vice-captain to Shubman Gill in this tour, demonstrated a lot of responsibility and maturity while playing in the absence of experience players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the first match, he established a 100+ run stand with Gill, and in the second match, he established a 150+ run partnership with KL Rahul.
Historic Feat for India
Rishabh Pant is now among only seven Indian batsmen to make a century in both the innings of a Test match. They were preceded by:
- Vijay Hazare
- Sunil Gavaskar (3 times)
- Rahul Dravid (2 times)
- Virat Kohli
- Ajinkya Rahane
- Rohit Sharma
- Rishabh Pant
Pant is, however, the first Indian to have done this in England.
Match Situation
When writing this, Pant and KL Rahul had added a 182-run partnership in the second innings. Team India is currently batting with an advantage of more than 280 runs on Day 4 of the first Test. India will try to make as many runs as possible to set a huge target in front of England. As of now, the match seems to be heading toward a draw, but a strong lead might open the door for a result on the final day.
