Zaheer Khan lauds 'X-factor' Rishabh Pant for playing his natural game against England

Former India speedster Zaheer Khan has applauded Rishabh Pant for his ability to smash a quick-fire century. The wicket-keeper batter registered the fifth hundred of his career to rescue India from a difficult situation on Day 1 in Edgbaston as the Men in Blue ended the day’s play at 338-7.

Pant took on the bowlers from the beginning despite India losing five wickets halfway through the day. His approach paid off as the England bowlers were put under pressure and failed to restrict India's consistent flow of runs. Pant and Ravindra Jadeja added a record partnership of 222 runs for the sixth wicket and helped India post a decent score at the end of the day's play.

While talking about the impact that Rishabh Pant has had on the Indian Test side so far, the former India pace bowler said on Cricbuzz: "If you look at Pant's career so far, he has already played so many impactful innings. If you look at his centuries, all of them have gone on to change the course of the match. He has a long way to go and it is a huge positive that he is able to score hundreds at this pace on a consistent basis."

However, Pant has never been shy of playing his natural aggressive game, and now, the team has also backed him. Giving credit to Pant for the way he batted with aggression and faith in his ability, Zaheer Khan stated that Pant is the team's x-factor.

He said: "There has always been an x-Factor in Rishabh Pant's batting. He was known for this in his U-19 days as well. His reputation was already set like that. After that, you have to constantly prove yourself at this level. There have been highs and lows so far and there might be in the future as well, but the way which he handles the expectations, he has a reassurance about his ability."

Pant was on the verge of scoring the fastest 150 against England but got out at 146 after edging one to the slip while trying to play down the ground. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja, who supported Pant from the other end, registered his 17th Test fifty and is only 17 runs away from his first Test hundred away from home at the time of writing. 

While talking about this, Zaheer said: "The balance in the team that you see is because the management trusts Jadeja's batting. I think they view him just like they view a specialist batter, because he has proved himself that way. We have seen in this series itself that the contribution from the lower order has been quite high."

Team India ended the day at 338-7 (July 1) after 73 overs. Ravindra Jadeja is currently in the middle alongside Mohammed Shami, who will start the proceedings on Day 2.