The young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant left most of the people surprised everyone when he made his Test debut with a six against England at Trent Bridge. Pant, facing just his second delivery, came down the track and smashed legspinner Adil Rashid over long-on during India’s first innings to get off the mark and in the process, became the first Indian to do so on his maiden Test.

However, despite the audacious hit, Pant acknowledged that he was nervous ahead of his first Test and the six was nothing more than just a reaction to the ball. Talking to the reporters, Pant said, “I was nervous. Everyone is nervous when they play their first match. I saw the ball and reacted to it. I was not thinking of hitting it for a six. I was just playing my normal cricket.”

When Virat Kohli was dismissed by Rashid off the last ball of the 76th over for 97, Pant came out to bat and he became India’s 291st Test player. He started at the non-striker’s end watching Hardik Pandya play out a maiden over from Ben Stokes before taking guard to Rashid.

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Off his first Test delivery he faced, Pant drove confidently to covers for without any success. However, on the very next ball, Rashid bowled a flighted one, a googly and WHAM. Pant walked down the track nonchalantly and hoisted one over the bowler’s head for a six. His first scoring shot, talk about confidence.

Pant’s debut was also memorable as he had a reasonable outing on his debut, scoring 24 in the first innings. But it was his performance behind the stumps that stood out. Pant took a total of seven catches in the match, five of which came in the first innings, which also made him the fourth Indian wicketkeeper to take five or more catches on his Test debut.

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Talking about his debut further, Rishabh said, “Wicketkeeping in England is always difficult because the ball wobbles a lot behind the wicket. I have been playing for India A for the last two and a half months in England, so it has been helpful for me in my preparation. As a ‘keeper, you have to wait for the outside edge. I have learned from it [dropped catch]. It is a big challenge, but the thing is that when Bumrah bowls, he bowls with a different angle. So, sometimes we react to it. That day I reacted too much on that ball and the edge came off. I’m not saying that it was not too difficult a catch; I could have pulled it off, but it is part of the game.”

The youngster is a clean striker of the cricket ball, a trade that made his the second-fastest century scorer in T20s, and one that was on display during his knock of 128 not out of 63 balls for the Delhi Daredevils against Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this year.