Rishabh Pant had a terrific outing in the first Test against England at Headingley, Leeds, and scored centuries in both innings. Pant became only the second wicketkeeper-batsman to score hundreds in both innings of a Test after Andy Flower of Zimbabwe.

Former India cricketer R Ashwin lavished praise on Rishabh Pant, and also shared a special request he would make to the wicketkeeper-batter if he were Shubman Gill or coach Gautam Gambhir. Pant made 134 in the first innings and notched up 118 in the second. Pant's wicket triggered a collapse in both innings, which was the main reason behind India's five-wicket defeat to England.

Ashwin said if he were Gautam Gambhir or Shubman Gill, he'd ask him to convert his centuries into double hundreds.

'Rishabh had a fabulous game as a batter. I would like to repeat that Rishabh has got a great defence. There is not a single shot in the book that he cannot play,' Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.

'I sometimes feel if I were Gautam Gambhir or Shubman Gill, I would take Rishabh Pant aside and say, ‘Bhai, tune kya batting kiya hai, kamaal ka batting kiya tune’ (Brother, you’ve batted brilliantly). I would love to be a batter with the kind of ability you have. But can I request you to make a double hundred next time when you're batting on 130?' That is the only request I would make of Rishabh,' added Ashwin.

Worries For India Ahead Of the Second Test

Meanwhile, the defeat to England could force India to make a few changes to the playing XI. Karun Nair didn't show the best form in the first Test, and Ravindra Jadeja also looked sluggish. The two lower middle-order batters, along with Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj, make up for a very bleak lower order on current form. The lack of runs from the lower order hurt India badly in the first Test, and this is something they would like to address in the second game. India could drop Shardul Thakur and play a specialist Kuldeep Yadav. Karun Nair might also have to make way for Nitish Reddy or Dhruv Jurel. Arshdeep Singh could replace Prasidh Krishna.