Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that Rishabh Pant’s 99-run knock in India’s second innings of the first Test against New Zealand was no less than a hundred as well. Pant smashed 99 runs off 105 deliveries as India were all out for 462 on Saturday, October 19 as well. New Zealand need 107 runs for a win on the fifth day, with all 10 wickets in hand and they did it convincingly.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Chopra said, “There is actually a difference of just one run between 99 and 100 and in Test cricket, you very rarely lose or win a match by one run. A hundred is a milestone for us because cricket is a number-obsessed game. These milestones are defined by numbers, or else 99 is no less than 100. If he had gotten out on 100, we would have said it was incredible, his seventh century. Since he got out on 99, we say he missed his century. He didn’t miss a hundred, he scored 99, and he batted like that.”

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In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra shared that India’s sudden collapse shows the significance of Rishabh Pant’s knock as well.

“When you look back, you were 408/3 and got all out for 462, suddenly the importance of this knock is seen even more. If he too had not played this long, you might not have been able to come to bowl at all because wickets fell quickly later. There is no doubt that this player is special. When this player’s career ends, he will be recognized very less by his numbers. The numbers are needed to tell a story but the way he plays will be discussed more, that a guy came who made Test cricket entertaining, that he used to play differently from the others,” Aakash Chopra concluded.