India vs England, 4th Test: Twitter goes berserk as Pant reverse sweeps Anderson on Day 2

Rishabh Pant left the cricket fraternity awestruck when he reverse swept James Anderson during Day 2 of the ongoing fourth Test between India and England on Friday.

England's bowling attack also includes Ben Stokes, Jack Leach, and Dom Bess, but Pant, who is playing his 20th Test, chose to play the unorthodox shot against Anderson, who has over 600 wickets to his name in the longest format of the game.

During India's first innings on Friday, Anderson was brought into the attack with the second new ball. Pant, in reply, flicked him confidently over the slip cordon for a boundary. As Pant produced the "shot of 2021," Anderson did not hesitate to acknowledge it with a smirk in his face.

On Friday, Pant walked in to bat when India were four-down for just 80 runs after bowling out England for 205 runs on the opening day. He went after the English attack after the second new ball was taken as he helped the hosts extend their lead. Pant struck 13 fours and two sixes en route 101 off 118 balls before Anderson eventually got the better of him.

Off the first delivery of the 83rd over on Friday, Pant played one of the most freakish shots in Test cricket that would have demoralised Anderson for a bit.

Taking to social media, former India batsman Aakash Chopra called it the shot of 2021. "Shot Of 2021.....that reverse sweep vs James Anderson with the second new ball. Audacious. Adventurous. Rishabh Pant is an absolute freak. Love his play to bits," wrote Chopra on his official Twitter account.

Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff went one step ahead and shared the video of Pant reverse sweeping on Twitter, with the caption, "Wow, Rishabh Pant."

Shot Of 2021.....that reverse sweep vs James Anderson with the second new ball. Audacious. Adventurous. Rishabh Pant is an absolute freak. Love his play to bits. #IndvEng

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 5, 2021

Wow @RishabhPant17 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/389yVwgXPz

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) March 5, 2021

Me Watching Rishabh Pant reverse sweep Anderson for a boundary and then bring up his century with a SIX.
That's my Boy! #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/yunVL1GRTQ

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 5, 2021

Have you EVER EVER seen a reverse sweep to @jimmy9 with the new ball in a test? @RishabhPant17 is simply an extraordinary cricketer, totally Sui generis.. audacious match winner who is set to carve a legacy of his own! Brisbane in Jan, now Ahmedabad. #INDvENG

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 5, 2021

NO YOU CANNOT DO THAT RISHABH PANT!!! 🤯 #INDvENG https://t.co/DiRX7IMXyv

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 5, 2021

Rishabh Pant is either your favourite cricketer to watch right now or you are wrong.

— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) March 5, 2021

At stumps of Day two at the Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad, India led by 89 runs with Washington Sundar and Axar Patel still batting.

In an interview after the end of the day's play, Pant spoke about his partnership with Rohit Sharma and the reverse sweep off Anderson, which is going to be remembered for a very long time.

"The plan was just to build a partnership when I joined Rohit, that was the only thing on my mind. I was thinking I would assess the pitch and then play my shots. If the bowlers are bowling well respect it and take the singles, and that was on my mind. I like to play the situation and I just see the ball and react - that's the USP (unique selling point) of my game.

"The team plan was to get to 206, past the England total, and then get as many runs as possible after that. You have to premeditate reverse-flicks, but if luck is going your way you can take the odd chance. I get the license most of the time, but I have to assess the situation and take the game head on. I like to make the team win and if the crowd is entertained by that, I'm happy," Pant was quoted, as saying in an interview on Friday.

The 23-year-old also surpassed Rohit Sharma on the list of most runs in Test cricket in 2021 to take the second spot behind Joe Root. The English captain has scored 764 runs from six Tests so far while Pant is next with 515 runs from six Tests at 64.37 with a hundred and four half-centuries.

Root and Pant are the only two batsmen to have scored over 500 runs in this calendar year in red-ball cricket.

After India suffered a nightmare loss at the Adelaide Oval in the day-night Test against Australia last year, Pant had replaced Wriddhiman Saha for the remainder of the series and ever since then, he has played a number of crucial knocks in the red-ball game. Out of his last 10 innings, he has registered four fifties and a century. That includes his heroic knock in Brisbane that had helped India successfully chase down 328 runs on the final day to win the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.