During the fourth day of the ongoing Test series against England at Headingley, Leeds, Team India captain Rishabh Pant was seen expressing frustration by talking to himself. This incident occurred on June 23.

India began their second innings with a score of 90/2, featuring KL Rahul and Shubman Gill at the crease with scores of 47 and 6, respectively. They managed to increase India's narrow first-innings lead of 6 runs to 96 after dismissing England for 465 runs. However, the team faced an early setback when Shubman Gill was dismissed for 8 runs by Brydon Carse in the morning session.

Following Gill's dismissal, KL Rahul partnered with Rishabh Pant to stabilize India's innings. The duo effectively combined caution with aggression, frustrating the England bowlers with their strategic shot selection and quick running between the wickets.

As India aimed to extend their lead, Rishabh Pant's self-directed comments caught the attention of fans and analysts alike. This moment occurred during the 53rd over of India's first innings while Pant was at the non-striker's end with a score of 16.

Pant was overheard saying, "Tez ball hai Rishabh, maarna hai toh seedha lag jaayega naa iss ball pe, kuch alag karne ki zarurat nahi hai." (It's a fast ball, Rishabh. If you want to hit it, just connect straight — there's no need to do anything different.) This clip was shared by Sky Sports on their social media platform.

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who was commentating at the time, interpreted Pant's remarks as a reminder to himself to stick to the fundamentals and avoid complicating his approach. Karthik noted that Pant was clearly upset about a previous mistake and hoped he would heed his own advice.

"He was essentially telling himself to play with a straight bat and not overthink it. He seems quite disappointed with his earlier performance, but I trust he will take his own advice," Karthik explained.

After the loss of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant continued to build a solid partnership, effectively rotating the strike and capitalizing on loose deliveries. By the end of the first session, India had reached 153/3, with Rahul and Pant scoring 72 and 31, respectively, establishing a 159-run lead from the first innings and positioning themselves strongly to set a challenging target for England.

With the dismissals of key players from the first innings, including Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, India required a steady partnership, which Rahul and Pant provided, demonstrating maturity under pressure. Notably, KL Rahul was given a second chance after Harry Brook dropped a catch off Josh Tongue's bowling.

India's last Test victory at Leeds dates back to 2002, when Sourav Ganguly's team achieved a remarkable innings-and-46-run win at Headingley.