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Chris Woakes has lauded Rishabh Pant’s thrilling batting style, which he said helps in making the game exciting.
Rishabh Pant scored two hundreds in the Headingley Test (Picture credit: AP)
England pacer Chris Woakes has said that Rishabh Pant is a cricketer with whom the bowler does not know what is coming next and is a player who keeps the opposition on their toes, making the game interesting and thrilling.
Pant hit two hundreds at Leeds, and although that didn’t help India win the game, his performance was a major highlight.
Pant didn’t spare almost any England bowler, going for the big hits at will, even as he took a special liking for spinner Shoaib Bashir.
“Rishabh’s a player who you don’t know what’s coming next. He’s a player who keeps you on your toes as a bowler, which is sometimes exciting to bowl against,” Woakes said ahead of the Edgbaston Test.
“Sometimes he can put you on the back foot as a bowler, but he makes the game move forward, exciting to be a part of the game when he’s at the crease,” Woakes added.
Woakes, the senior-most member of the England pace attack, is expecting another good batting pitch at Edgbaston after the run fest in the series opener against India. The track had a prominent grass cover on Monday, but it is dry underneath, considering the heat in Edgbaston.
The grass will be trimmed ahead of the toss on Wednesday. It can be another contest between the batting units of both sides. England bowlers, including Woakes, gained a lot of confidence from bowling out India twice in Leeds.
“We did well in terms of being able to take 20 wickets (in Leeds). When they got ahead of the game with the bat, we managed to drag ourselves back into the game, which is important and a good skill to have,” Woakes said.
“There’s good weather around. So, it might be another hard week for the bowlers. But we’ll look at the things that we did well last week and try to put the things that we didn’t do so well right this week,” Woakes added.
The England pacer just got one wicket at Leeds and as a senior pacer, more is expected from him.
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