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Rishabh Pant's twin tons at Headingley came with his trademark somersault celebration, loved by fans but cautioned against by R Ashwin due to Test cricket's demands.
Team India vice-captain Rishabh Pant had a brilliant outing in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley in Leeds.
Pant had scored centuries across both innings of the Headingley Test. In the first innings, the southpaw played a knock of 134 off 178 balls, followed by another brilliant knock of 118 off 140 balls in the second innings. With this, Rishabh Pant became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter and the second after former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower to achieve the feat of scoring a century in each innings of a Test match.
Despite Rishabh Pant’s heroics with the willow and three centuries shared between Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and KL Rahul, Team India lost the series opener by five wickets to the hosts England on the final day at Headingley on Tuesday.
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Rishabh Pant’s ‘somersault’ celebration becomes a talking point
Though Rishabh Pant’s performance was hailed by fans and experts of the game, the southpaw’s somersault celebration has become one of the talking points from the match. Pant’s unique milestone celebration came into the spotlight when he scored a century for Lucknow Super Giants against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their final league stage match of the IPL 2025.
The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter came up with a similar celebration when he scored his first century of the Headingley Test. As soon as he completed his century, Rishabh Pant removed his helmet and gloves and launched into a spontaneous somersault on the pitch, drawing cheers from the crowd and teammates in the dressing room.
However, after completing the second century of the Headingley Test, Rishabh Pant surprised everyone, including Sunil Gavaskar, by ditching the somersault celebration and came up with Dele Alli’s iconic 'eye gesture' celebration instead. Gavaskar, from the balcony of the media box, gestured to Pant to do his celebration, but instead told me that he would do it later.
Rishabh Pant’s somersault has become a fan favourite as it symbolises his fitness levels following his return from a career-threatening injury two years ago, showcasing not only his flair and confidence.
Ashwin wants Rishabh Pant to avoid doing a somersault
Though Rishabh Pant’s somersault has captured the imagination of fans, former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin urged the southpaw to avoid such celebrations.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, ‘Ash ki Baat’, the retired India off-spinner stated that the body gets tired unlike the IPL, adding that Pant has nothing to prove.
“Please don’t go for that front flip. In Test, your body gets tired, unlike the Indian Premier League, where you will not face more than 50-60 balls. He is the top batter in the Indian Test Cricket Team and has nothing to prove,” R Ashwin said.
What made Rishabh Pant do a somersault?
Rishabh Pant’s somersault has shown the flexibility of his body, but the southpaw stated that he was doing gymnastics in school, adding that he worked harder to perform while recovering from injuries sustained from a fatal car crash in December 2022.
“I have been doing it for a long time. I took part in gymnastics during school,” Pant told Cheteshwar Pujara on Sony Sports.
“If I get up in the middle of the night, I can do a somersault. After my car accident, I had to work harder to perform it again. However, it is easy for me again,” he added.