Has Rishabh Pant finally cracked the T20 code?

Emotions can overtake actual reality sometimes. When the case is as sensitive as Rishabh Pant, we can allow emotions to stay longer. This IPL edition has been all about his miraculous comeback, and the audience hardly cared about his performances in the first half.

But Pant’s on-field efforts were bound to become the central figure at some stage, especially when he features for a team like Delhi Capitals (DC). Ricky Ponting admitted Pant is the heartbeat of DC, and their fate mainly relies on how Pant performs. They somehow avoided a bottom-table finish last season.

Rishabh Pant’s T20 performances before that long, unwanted break were below par. Even during his peak, Pant couldn’t find the right tempo for his T20 batting, neither for India nor for Delhi Capitals. It’s not that he didn’t have all those geometry-defying shots in his armour before; Pant always played them across formats.

Still, Pant averages a mere 22.43 and strikes at 126.37 after 56 outings for India in the shortest format. For DC, that average sees a surge at 32.41 but a strike rate of 129.49 in the three seasons before the break was nowhere near standard. His IPL career in the previous few years has been strange for a player like him.

Also Read: Ashutosh Sharma – a maverick with batting smarts

When Pant has averaged more, his strike rate has come down, and vice-versa. He was too extreme at times and never struck an ideal balance between consistency and scoring rate. He tried different things – going hard at the start, which reduced his chances of succeeding, and being over-cautious, which resulted in negative impact knocks, building pressure on his partners and batters to follow.

This year has been different. It’s not because his average (48.85) and strike rate (161.32) are significant, but the way he has approached his innings construction. The start of the season was rusty; Pant can’t be blamed for that.

But as the season has moved, Pant not only found his mojo back but also looked clearer with his role and the bowlers he wanted to target. When two quality spinners – Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad – were operating in DC’s latest game, Rishabh Pant took the backstage and let Axar dominate the proceedings. He hit a couple of boundaries but didn’t rush himself and reserved his firepower for pacers at the back end of the innings.

When Mohit Sharma returned for his other spell, Pant quickly pounced on him and took him to the cleaners. He was unstoppable from here on. From being 34(26), Pant ended the innings with 88(43) to power Delhi Capitals to a whopping 224/4.

That deck wasn’t as easy in the first innings, for bowlers did get assistance by rolling their fingers on the ball. Pant is an excellent player of off-pace deliveries and can power them from unusual positions. So, he kept himself reserved for pacers, allowing Axar to take on his stronger suit – spinners.

𝙋𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘!

FIFTY 🆙 for the @DelhiCapitals skipper, who aims to finish on a high with such serious shots 😎

Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL | #DCvGT | @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/Vc8ZXRBngj

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2024

Rewind to IPL 2022, when Pant was ultra-aggressive with his approach and looked to attack from the first ball. He played plenty of unnecessary shots in the name of intent and put his team in trouble. A precise example of this was his dismissal off Shreyas Gopal that year.

Pant had already taken 22 from the over, and the bowler bowled a friendly full toss on the final delivery. He could have placed it anywhere on the field but applied too much power to it, and the ball took an inside edge and crashed on the stumps. He was in one zone only; muscling everything coming his way.

His dismissal off Liam Livingstone two games later was a similar one. He had just hit a maximum and even if going for another one wasn’t a crime, Pant premeditatedly jumped out of his crease and went for a wild slog across the line to lose his wicket when DC were in desperate need of a partnership.

If Pant was over-aggressive in 2022, he was ultra-cautious in the previous two seasons. He averaged 34.20 and struck at 113.62 in IPL 2020. The next season, Pant had an average of 34.91 and a strike rate of 128.52.

He played a few match-losing knocks in both editions. For instance, Pant played a 58-run knock in 48 balls in a 172 chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2021. It’s not that too many wickets had fallen, and Pant couldn’t play his shots; he just refused to play them.

Despite a 53(25) from Shimron Hetmyer, DC fell short by a run, and Pant was the main culprit. He never looked to be in a state to play his shots and left too many for the final over. Another lacklustre knock came against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the previous edition when Pant’s 14 off 20 balls prevented his team from reaching an above-par total, as PBKS chased it down with an over to spare.

While it’s arduous to pinpoint a reason for such extreme methods in different seasons, one thing was certain – Pant couldn’t find an ideal tempo to bat at. The current version of Jonny Bairstow and Rohit Sharma before this season are culprits of the same offence. Both tried two very distinct approaches when they should have simply played on the merit of the ball.

Pant feels complete when he plays in the centre 💯#GTvDC pic.twitter.com/pskUz6lY0B

— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) April 24, 2024

This season has brought the best out of Rishabh Pant, who has already hit as many fifties in nine outings as he did in the previous two seasons combined. Nothing has really changed significantly in his game; Pant doesn’t need to, either. It’s just that he is not desperate anymore and assesses the game situation well.

Jake Fraser-McGurk couldn’t break free when Delhi Capitals lost quick wickets after a rapid start against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). So, Rishabh Pant attacked Ravi Bishnoi and Marcus Stoinis in the initial phase of the innings to take the pressure off his partner, who soon found his fluency. When the situation didn’t demand immediate impact, Pant let Axar do what he was promoted for, taking a backseat against Gujarat Titans.

Pant being Pant 😉#IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL #LSGvDC pic.twitter.com/5ZN5YjwZtT

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 12, 2024

Further, he has looked much better with his glovework, for his reflexes have been sharper. Be it his quick stumping in his comeback game to dismiss Jitesh Sharma or Abhinav Manohar in the most recent match or his neat catch while standing up to the stumps to end Shahrukh Khan’s innings, Pant has done well in every department. It’s majorly his high confidence enabling him to stand up for pacers like Rasikh Dar and Mukesh Kumar, even though he did suffer a blow on one of the balls.

Sharp with the gloves 🕸️ 😎

Captain Rishabh Pant continues to lead from the front 🤟

Watch the match LIVE on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema 💻📱 #TATAIPL | #DCvGT | @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/4TJ2mCKzhC

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2024

No one would have blamed Pant had he failed to perform as consistently, given what he survived. But he has ensured that more talks are about his game and not that horrific incident. And now, his focus is on a bigger goal – playing for India again.

Undoubtedly, he has made a case for himself in the T20 World Cup after proving complete fitness. Virat Kohli is no longer the same force against pace, and Rohit Sharma has also struggled to get going in this format. And if the tracks are on the slower side in the West Indies and USA, Suryakumar Yadav can also find it hard to play all those unorthodox shots square of the wicket, as visible in the World Cup final last year.

This makes Rishabh Pant a vital member of the middle order, for he can clear ropes consistently on the off-pace deliveries. Sanju Samson has similar power, but Pant is a left-hander with more experience in the middle order, making him a better option. There is an argument that Pant has never done well for India in T20Is, but that was also the case in the IPL before this season, even if there were sparks of brilliance.

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