Sanjay Manjrekar tips Rishabh Pant as India’s greatest ever Test batter-keeper after century in opening Test against England

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar rated Rishabh Pant as India’s greatest ever Test batter-keeper. Pant scored a brilliant knock of 134 runs off 178 balls on the second day’s play and played a key role in helping India post 471 runs on the board.

The left-hander scored 12 fours and six maximums in his blistering knock. Pant reached his seventh Test century with a one-handed six as he continued to impress in foreign conditions in the red-ball version.

The pugnacious southpaw added 209 runs for the fourth wicket with his captain Shubman Gill, who scored a fine knock of 147 runs.

“By far, India’s greatest ever Test batter-keeper. I was worried when he was in the 90s that he might end up getting his 8th 90 of his career. It is just unbelievable that he has so many 90s! But he’s a breath of fresh air,” Manjrekar told JioStar

Manjrekar also hailed the English crowd for appreciating Rishabh Pant’s century after the left-hander was dismissed by Josh Tongue.

“When he got out and raised his bat, there were a lot of English supporters who stood up and applauded that innings. That’s what we love about England — these guys come to watch good cricket. They want their team to win, but when they see excellence from the opposition, you can see true appreciation for it,” Manjrekar said.

Pant has been delivering consistently in the Test format and he would look to carry the good show in the rest of the series. The wicket-keeper bat didn’t have a great run in IPL 2025 while leading Lucknow Super Giants. Furthermore, he could only manage 255 runs in five Test matches against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series.

Meanwhile, England were 327-5 at lunch on Day three, trailing by 144 runs.