Former England captain Michael Vaughan has lavished praise on Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, saying how there was ‘a lot of science’ behind his ‘madness’, which is even admired by the current Three Lions skipper Ben Stokes. Vaughan lauded Pant for ‘setting a new trend’ after Adam Gilchrist. Pant smashed 134 and 118 in the first two innings against England at Headingley, becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper in history with twin centuries in Tests. Although India lost the match by five wickets, Pant became the talk of the town for his BazBall-esque entertainment and the usual fearlessness. “There’s a lot of science in that madness the way that he plays,” Vaughan said, as quoted by The Indian Express. “You can see even Ben Stokes is admiring when he’s batting. Adam Gilchrist for me is the best wicketkeeper-batter. But Pant just set a new trend. I mean MS Dhoni, across white ball cricket, was fantastic. You would think with the way that he plays, Pant would be completely suited to the white ball game and not so much the Test game, but his Test record is miles better than his white ball record,” he added. Another erstwhile England skipper, Alastair Cook, also lauded Pant, saying that his smiling demeanor doesn’t mean he’s not competitive or doesn’t have the hunger for runs. “That smile doesn’t mean he doesn’t like (to win). Or that he’s not the most competitive (player). You don’t score two centuries and not really want to. He could have tossed (been casual in the second innings) and said I’ve scored a hundred in the first innings. But he didn’t,” Cook said. Pant has already made his case to be India’s greatest-ever Test wicketkeeper. He has 3200 runs in 44 Tests at an average of 44.44, with eight centuries and 15 wickets. India are trailing 1-0 in the Test series and will play the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, starting on June 2. Being the vice-captain, Pant will want to similarly impact the team with consistency. India are likely to be without Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test, which could make seniors’ contributions even more important.