Rishabh Pant was the toast of the nation on Friday as he tore the English bowling attack apart to score a breathtaking 146 off 111 deliveries to bring India back in the game on Day 1 of the fifth and the final Test against England at Edgbaston. Rishabh Pant arrived at the crease when the Indians were in a deep hole at 64/3, which quickly became 98/5 after the visitors lost the wickets of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer who were dismissed for 11 and 15 respectively. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer's departure, however, didn't make much difference to Rishabh Pant's batting approach as he launched a full-blown attack – first on the England fast bowlers followed by a stunning assault on their spinner Jack Leach. In the process, Rishabh Pant became the fastest Indian wicketkeeper batter to smash a hundred in Test cricket, with his century at Edgbaston coming in only 89 balls. Overall, this was his third ton against the Three Lions and his second on English soil. As Rishabh Pant breached the three-figure mark, the entire Indian dressing room cheered the young man from the balcony. Head coach Rahul Dravid too was extremely happy with his knock as he gave him a loud shout-out. Rahul Dravid's public display of emotions immediately went viral on social media as it is a rare sight to see the legendary cricketer like that.

After India found themselves in a deep hole at 98/5, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja came together to forge a superb 222-run stand for the sixth wicket.

However, it was Rishabh Pant who was the star of the day as he became the youngest wicketkeeper batter in Test cricket's history to complete 2,000 runs in the format during his Edgbaston blitzkrieg on Friday.

It was a remarkable counter-attacking knock from Rishabh Pant, taking on the English bowlers with elan, aggression, and poise at the same time.

The Uttarakhand batter was simply outstanding from the word go, firing on all cylinders as he went berserk at Edgbaston.

Rishabh Pant was particularly severe against England spinner Jack Leach as he clobbered him for boundaries and sixes at will.

In one of Jack Leach's overs, he hit him for two fours and two maximums with a huge sixer over long-on being the highlight of his all-out attack on the left-arm tweaker.

Rishabh Pant's aggression eventually led to his downfall as well, as he wanted to bring his 150 with a single shot but was caught in the slips off the bowling of Joe Root. Pant made a whirlwind 146 off 111 balls.

India, on the other hand, ended the day's play at 338/7 with Ravindra Jadeja (83*) 17 runs away from what would be a marvelous hundred, considering the circumstances in which he scored his runs.

Giving Ravindra Jadeja company at the other end was tailender Mohammed Shami who was yet to open his account despite facing 11 balls from the England bowlers.

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Rishabh Pant's hundred in England came days after he was heavily criticized for his mode of dismissals during the T20I series against South Africa at home.

India legend Sunil Gavaskar and iconic South Africa pacer Dale Steyn had ripped into Rishabh Pant, claiming that he was making the same mistakes again and again.

‘He hasn't learned. He hasn't learned from his previous three dismissals. They throw wide, and he keeps going for it. He can’t throw enough muscle on that. He has got to stop looking to go aerial that far outside the off-stump,” Sunil Gavaskar had said after the fourth match of the series in Rajkot.

“There is no way he's going to get enough on it. It has gone to short-third! They all plan it, South African bowlers and Temba Bavuma just bowl wide outside the off-stump and you will get him,” Sunil Gavaskar added.

“10 times, he has been dismissed wide outside off-stump (in T20s in 2022). Some of them would've been called wide if he hadn’t made contact with it. Because he's so far away, he has to reach out for it. He will never get enough power on it. To keep getting out in the same series in the same manner, for a captain of the Indian team, that's not a good sign,” Sunil Gavaskar mentioned.

South African great Dale Steyn was much more scathing in his remarks, saying that a good player generally learns from his mistakes, but Rishabh Pant wasn't showing any kind of improvement and continues to commit similar mistakes.

“Pant has had four opportunities in this series, where he seems to be making the same mistakes. Also, you think that good players learn from their mistakes, he has not,” Dale Steyn told ESPNcricinfo.