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Sunil Gavaskar, Rishabh Pant.
Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar was spotted urging Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to do his now trademark somersault following his century at the Headingley on Monday against England in the opening Test of the five-match series between the sides.
Pant replicated his first innings century feat with another triple-digit score in the second innings at Leeds to enter an exclusive list of players.
Pant posted a score of 118-runs off 140 deliveries before falling to English bowler Shoaib Bashir as Zak Crawley held on to the catching opportunity offered up by the Indian southpaw.
India opened day 4 on 90/2 with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul at the crease after the English seamers struck twice on the previous day. Gill fell early on the day to Brydon Carse for 8 runs before Pant came out to steady the innings alongside Rahul, who also went on to make a ton in fine anchor fashion.
India closed out Day 3 with a 96 run lead as the visitors were 90/2 in the second innings as when the umpire tipped the bails to signal the end of the day’s play. Jasprit Bumrah picked up his 12th career five-wicket haul earlier in the day to limit England to 465, 6 shy of India’s first innings total of 471, despite Harry Brook’s 99-run knock.
England removed opposition skipper Gill early door on Monday and looked to capitalise on the momentum in the morning, but Pant and Rahul bolted the doors on the English bowling attack with sensible knock that wasn’t devoid of flair the duo are known for.
Rahul eventually fell to Carse after piling on 137 runs before Karun Nair fell to Chris Woakes for 20 runs. Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur added just 4 runs before falling prey to Josh Tongue.
Tongue added to his kitty with the removal of Mohamed Siraj and Bumrah for ducks, before Bashir wrapped up the Indian second innings with the dismissal of Prasidh Krishna, while Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten on 25.
Indian posted a total of 364 runs in the second innings to set the hosts a target of 371 runs to win the opener. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett added 21 runs to the English chase before the umpire called for the end of the day’s play.
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