Ravi Patki: Rishabh Pant took the first day of the fifth Test against England in Birmingham. Pant displayed 360 degree batting on a typical English pitch and displayed unexpected seam movements swinging and falling on the pitch. (England vs India 5th Test Ravi Patki blog on Team India vice captain Rishabh Pant century)
Rishabh looked like a blacksmith to Lloyd and a painter to Kalicharan at the same time. It looked like the Lloyd Kalicharan partnership was underway. A Lloyd-like hammer was hitting the ball, while Kalicharan’s painting brush cover was creating a flaky signature beneath Drive’s linear painting. He used to look like the king of T20 while hitting sixes.
While playing a cricket textbook cheering drive, he seemed to be carrying the DNA of a Test match into his chambers. He killed the victim and turned it around as well. He seems to have mastered the slice shot from near point. All the high shots easily crossed the boundary.
His mentality is attacking so when he stands to face the ball, without thinking of not letting go of his wicket on the incoming ball, he is thinking how and where can I change the incoming ball.
He took Anderson, Potts, Broad, Stokes, Leach to the laundry. He has nothing to do with how we look while playing, so he doesn’t care if Bellas falls in the middle of the wicket while hitting the shot. It means run, not artistry.
Jadeja also batted brilliantly. He focused on the footwork and hit a fine drive, blunting the swing. Good news about full length balls.
