A few months ago, Rishabh Pant found himself at the dark end of a tunnel. His recklessness in both innings of the fourth Test against Australia at the MCG was seen as one of the reasons behind India’s series defeat, especially since the series was locked at 1-1 till that point. The team management was unhappy, Pant lost his place in the ODI first XI in the Champions Trophy while Sanju Samson seemed to be taking a runaway lead in the T20 scheme of things. The fact that Pant had a bad IPL as Lucknow Supergiants captain didn’t help his cause either. Since his India debut during the Nottingham Test of the England series in 2018, the wicketkeeper-batter’s place in the team had never been in doubt. The horrific car accident in Dec 2022 was obviously a massive blow but the spunky Pant always knew that the moment he was fit to play, he would be back in India colours.
But all that seemed to be falling apart following the Australia debacle. Until Saturday, that is. The broad smile that is part and parcel of the Pant package was back as he lofted offie Shoaib Bashir for a six to reach his seventh Test century — the most by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter — to go past MS Dhoni. India have entered a new era and the management, despite its reservations about Pant’s white-ball game, has made him the vice-captain for Tests. It was a vote of confidence that the 27-year-old so desperately needed. But the beauty of Pant is that the added responsibility didn’t send him into a shell. He was yet to score on Friday evening when he stepped out to Ben Stokes — who was high on confidence after getting centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal with a beauty — and hit him straight over the allrounder’s head. Even the England captain couldn’t help but laugh at the audacity of the young player. Probably Stokes saw shades of himself in Pant.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player? Pant made things look ridiculously easy during his 134 and Cheteshwar Pujara, during the pre-match show, explained how the left-hander took the pressure off his partner with the way he batted. “When I batted with Pant, I saw his ability to throw the bowler off his line and length. Batting at the other end, it helped me as well and run-scoring became that much easier,” the former India No. 3 said. While the courage to go after the bowling is intrinsic to Pant’s attacking style of batting, there’s a method to his madness. Pant’s sudden burst of boundaries after a slight period of lull often wows the fans, but Pujara says it’s part of a plan. “You’ll see these sudden phases when Pant starts defending with a dead bat for a few deliveries. It is often to give the bowler a false sense of confidence so that he bowls in the same spot. He predicts the length very well and plays those ramp shots which may look quite dangerous from the outside,” Pujara said.
