Rishabh Pant emerged as the architect of the Indian cricket team's five-wicket victory over England at Old Trafford during the weekend, helping his team to achieve a memorable series win on foreign soil. But it was a video of his winning gift 'champagne bottle' that made the waves on social media.
Chasing a target of 260, Rohit Sharma and his boys were in deep trouble at 21-2. But everything changed for the visitors once Pant arrived at the crease as he went on to become the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to slam hundreds in both Tests and ODIs on English soil.
Notably, it was Pant's first century in white-ball cricket.
Cricket has three formats - Test matches that are played over five days, ODIs (50-over-a-side games), and T20s (20 overs per team). While Test cricket is played with a red or pink ball, ODIs and T20s feature a white ball.
After the win, the Uttarakhand-born left-hander was named the Player of the Match for his series-defining knock and received a medal and a champagne bottle from the organizers in lieu of his extraordinary effort on the field.
Pant, however, didn't keep the champagne bottle with him and opted to rather gift it to former Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri who was there inside the stadium doing his commentary stint with the official broadcasters of the series, Sky Sports.
The two then had a quick conversation before Shastri resumed his duties as a commentator on the British television network. But throughout the telecast, the bottle was seen by his side.
The entire episode was caught on camera and the video went viral on social media. It has received more than 100K views so far.
Pant and Shastri's bonhomie was reflected in some tweets as a section of Indian cricket fans remarked that the two know each other well and there was also mutual admiration and respect between the duo.
"Rishabh Pant gave his bottle of champagne to Ravi Shastri! Oh these guys know each other so well!!!" an Indian cricket supporter wrote on the micro-blogging site.
"Rishabh Pant gave his champagne to Ravi Shastri. So endearing, and so mischievous," another concluded.