“Must be an incredibly difficult bloke to coach” - Nasser Hussain’s huge remark on Indian star during ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Team India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant could be hard to coach because of his ability to shift between extremes while batting. Hussain's remarks came after the 27-year-old smashed twin centuries in the India-England series opener at Leeds.

Pant was criticized for his shot selection several times in India's previous Test series in Australia. However, he responded by becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. It was also his eighth Test century and a remarkable fourth in English conditions.

Talking about Pant in his column for the Daily Mail at the end of Day 4 of the first India-England Test, Hussain wrote:

"He (Rishabh Pant) must be an incredibly difficult bloke to coach because, as Sunil Gavaskar alluded to with his ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ comment in Australia last winter, Pant will do things that absolutely wind you up, but he will also get hundreds — as he has done twice here.

He added:

"There is method to his madness, but only he knows what it is, whether he is going to defend or attack, and because of that unique nature, I can see why it leads to opposition captains thinking outside the box."

Pant's heroics propelled India to scores of 471 and 364 in the two innings, setting England a massive target of 371 for victory.

"One of the few times that I have seen Stokes go defensive" - Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain expressed surprise at England skipper Ben Stokes going defensive when Rishabh Pant scored his second century in the second innings of the Leeds Test. After a watchful start on the morning of Day 4, the southpaw exploded in the second session to bring up three figures off just 130 balls.

"He (Stokes) removed his slips and put fielders back. It was one of the few times that I have seen Stokes go defensive. As I say, he did so because he clearly felt that he was more likely to get Pant caught in the deep. Even with Pant playing like he is, though, Headingley remains a caught-behind-the-wicket place — about 50 per cent of catches here are taken in the cordon," wrote Hussain (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

"What Stokes could have done, as he often has — especially when captaining spin in Asia — was set in-out fields. That would have provided him with men round the bat — prime real estate for Test cricket in Leeds — but also fielders in the deep. This was the first time I can recall him moving away from his modus operandi of trying to dismiss an opponent."

Stokes boasts an incredible Test record at home as England captain, with the side yet to lose a series since he became permanent captain in 2022.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran