Rishabh Pant was named 'Player of the Match' for his brilliant unbeaten century that helped India beat England by five wickets in the third ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester and seal the series 2-1. Coming in to bat with India in trouble at 21/2, Pant hit 125* to help India chase down the 260-run target with just under eight overs to spare. As the team celebrated after the post-match presentation ceremony, the 24-year-old was seen running to former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri with the champagne bottle he was given as his 'Player of the Match' award.
Pant was seen chatting with Shastri and then offering him the bottle before running back to his teammates.
Even during the team's celebrations, Pant was seen spraying captain Rohit Sharma with champagne. Virat Kohli was also spotted doing the same to Shikhar Dhawan and Arshdeep Singh, who had to literally run away from the former skipper.
Pant, of course, has played a lot of cricket for India when Shastri was the head coach.
Shastri's stint ended with the 2021 T20 World Cup and he has been replaced in the role by Rahul Dravid.
In the series decider, Hardik Pandya's brilliant display with the ball saw India bowl England out for 259.
The all-rounder returned with figures of 4/24.
But India were in trouble early as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were dismissed within the first five overs.
Virat Kohli was soon to follow, and even Suryakumar Yadav could not stick around for long.
With India reeling at 72/4, Pant and Hardik stitched together a brilliant 133-run partnership to rescue their team and take them to a commanding position.
After Hardik fell for 71, Pant upped his own tempo and reached his century with Ravindra Jadeja at the crease with him.
In a hurry to finish the match off, Pant then hit five consecutive boundaries off David Willey in the 42nd over and then reverse-swept Joe Root off the first ball of the next over to take India home comfortably.