Rishabh Pant is a flamboyant wicket-keeper batsman India has produced after the legendary MS Dhoni. Known for his aggressive batting, Pant rose to fame back in the 2016 U-19 World Cup for his scores against Nepal and Namibia.
It was in 2016, IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils (renamed as Delhi Capitals now) picked him and since then it’s no turning back for Pant. His consistent performances for the Delhi Ranji team and IPL earned him a national call-up. After the T20I debut for India in 2017, selectors chose the southpaw as a wicket-keeper batsman for the 2018 England tour.
The Ups and Downs:
Pant had a decent outing in the 3 Test matches he got to play scoring a total of 162 runs including a famous century in the last Test match. The talent and skill were there, all it needed was a bit of discipline and trust. The team persisted with Pant in all formats and India now has a better wicket-keeper batsman.
Although Pant had a lean patch in the year 2019-2020 amidst MS Dhoni’s retirement and crowd hatred, there was a renaissance around the corner. The Border-Gavaskar trophy in Australia 2020-21 was a turning point once again for Rishabh Pant. A match-winning knock in the final Test at the Gabba was all Pant needed to establish himself permanently in this Indian cricket team. Fans and critics loved it, Cricket pundits hailed his abilities- India had found a gem in Rishabh Pant
The Unique Record in Test Cricket:
In his short career so far, Rishabh Pant has had memorable moments with this competitive Indian team. A lot of famous overseas victories happened in the last 3 years. The latest famous Lord’s victory made Pant the only Asian player to be part of 6 Test-match victories in SENA countries i.e. South Africa, New Zealand, England, and Australia.
Nottingham (2018)
Adelaide (2018)
Melbourne (2018)
Melbourne (2020)
Brisbane (2021)
Lord’s (2021)
The last record was held by legendary Waqar Younis (5 wins). The Pant saga has just begun and he’ll go on to break many more records in the next 5-10 years.
