Rishabh Pant is a huge star in this part of the world. It’s not hard to see why. He made a century six years back, on his first tour of Australia, in the final Test in Sydney. In January 2021, he fashioned an outstanding Indian Test and series victory in Brisbane with a supremely composed unbeaten 89 when the team was missing more than half the regulars and chasing a venue record 328.
He is also the peoples’ champion. Through the course of this tour, he has obliged requests for selfies with a smile, remaining grounded and humble.
Smart and thoughtful lad
Pant has stared death in the face and lived to tell the tale, so it’s unlikely that he will be too fazed by the pressures that a game of cricket can impose. Even before that horrendous accident of December 30, 2022, the likeable young man came across as smart, thoughtful and equanimous in success and failure. He is perhaps even more so now, considering the last 24 months of his life and the manner in which he has bounced back when many feared whether he would even walk again.
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Since returning to competitive cricket nine months ago at the IPL, Pant has waltzed back into the national team. After a strong start at the T20 World Cup in New York, he went somewhat cold when the tournament moved to the Caribbean but celebrated his return to Test cricket in September against Bangladesh with a flowing second-innings century.
His grand form with the bat spilled over to the NZ series when he made 99 in the second innings of the first Test and almost hauled India to victory in Mumbai until a contentious TV umpire decision thwarted those designs. Pant made a splendid 64, his second half-century of the game on a decidedly dodgy surface, and it was then widely believed that in Australia, on truer wickets with more pace and bounce, he would positively enjoy himself.
That hasn’t been the case. Five innings have produced a mere 96 runs with a highest of 37 and an average of 19.2. At No. 5, he has almost always walked into a newish ball — in the 17th over in the first innings in Perth, 21st and 15th overs in Adelaide, and the eighth over in Brisbane — against which batting has been very tricky against a terrific pace attack.
New ball challenge
Pant’s counterpart at No. 5, Travis Head, has had the luxury of coming in mainly after the new ball has been blunted, after which he has been able to play his shots with impunity. Early forays to the batting crease haven’t helped Pant’s cause, but the left-hander has been around long enough to not use that as an excuse.
Pant’s Test career received a second lease in Melbourne four years back, when he was recalled after being benched in the series opener in Adelaide. Maybe it’s here too that he will turn his series around next week. Now, what a story that will be.
