“Please don’t do that front flip” - Ravi Ashwin requests Rishabh Pant to stop doing somersault celebration

Former Indian spinner and analyst Ravi Ashwin has requested the Indian keeper-batter Rishabh Pant not to do the front flip celebration going forward, as it could make him tired in the longest format of the game.

Notably, Pant smacked twin centuries in the Leeds Test against England, as he emerged as the first Indian batter and second keeper-batter in the history of Test cricket to score twin centuries in England.

“I’ve only one request, please don’t do that front flip. In Tests, your body gets tired unlike in IPL where you will not play more than 50-60 balls. He is a bona fide top batter in the Indian lineup. So he has nothing to prove,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Interestingly, after scoring a century in the first innings, Pant stated to the broadcaster that there were three celebrations in mind, with one being the ‘let the bat do the talking’. However, he went ahead with the somersault celebration eventually.

While Pant smacked 134 runs in the first innings off 178 balls, he went on to score 118 runs off 140 balls in the second innings to script history and create a new Indian record. India will next take on England in the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

"I had three celebrations in mind. One of them was ‘let the bat do the talking’. Then I thought, I’ll stick with mine. I’ve been doing it since childhood (the somersault). I trained in gymnastics during school. In school, I did gymnastics. I’m very used to it. Even if you wake me up in the middle of the night, I can do a somersault. After the accident, I had to work even harder at it. But I put in the work, and now it’s easy for me again," Pant said.

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