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Who does Risbhabh Pant's roly-poly shot better - David Warner or Alastair Cook?

ESPNcricinfo staff
11-Aug-2025 • 15 hrs ago
Rishabh Pant's falling sweep almost cost him his wicket, England vs India, 1st Test, Leeds, 4th day, June 23, 2025

Rishabh Pant: no part of the ground unused  •  AFP/Getty Images

Rishabh Pant is known for his innovative batting and out-there shots, so can a batter as orthodox as Alastair Cook imitate them?
To be fair to the 40-year-old Cook, who attempted the "roly-poly ramp shot", it's not easy in civvies with a mike in hand.
"What he was doing was playing the paddle sweep," Cook said while demonstrating Pant's shot. "But what he wanted is more pace on the ball to really get in the lines.
"So as he went on down he'd use the pace, and then, yes, on TV, I'm going to roll over, make it look glamorous and hope it goes for four."
Since Cook's attempt looked more like a tree being felled than Pant's shot, they brought in the slightly younger David Warner, whose batting style is closer to Pant's.
Warner got a smoother roll in with better head position.
"You get elevation doing it, apparently," Cook exclaimed. "Rishabh Pant's been tweeting us, saying about elevation. But I just think he's doing it for style tricks."
Warner teased Cook about being scared to try the shot, but agreed that the shot needed great reflexes.
"I don't know how he keeps his eye on the ball," Warner said about Pant. "It's remarkable. And it has to be premeditated. Mine's premeditated. I want to hope so, otherwise he's got good eyes!"
Pant scored 479 runs at 68.4 in four Tests in the series against England, with two hundreds at Headingley and a 54 at Old Trafford, partly scored off a broken foot.

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