The left-hander scored 479 runs in four Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
There are good players. And then, there are players who keep the spectators hooked to their seats. There are no doubts about the category Rishabh Pant falls into. The left-handed wicketkeeper batter is already one of the best Indian players in Test cricket. In the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Pant gave the English bowlers a run for their money.
In just four matches out of five, Pant scored a monumental 479 runs at an average of 68.42. These runs came at a brisk pace and also included three fifties and two hundreds. To add to that, the wicketkeeper-batter was also injured on two occasions in the series. A finger injury forced him out in the second innings of the third Test. But that wasn’t the end. A Chris Woakes toe-crusher literally did its job in the fourth Test. However, Pant walked out to bat on both occasions, showing great resilience.
More often than not, the Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) skipper is known for his aggressive display of batting. Very few players can generate an immediate impact when they are at the crease, and Pant is one of those. His aggressive demeanour instantly inflicts pressure on the opposition as they are forced to do something out of the box, which is against their natural game.
However, England speedster Mark Wood opened up about his experiences of bowling against some of the Indian batters. He spoke about the challenges of bowling to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Along with that, Wood revealed his thought process on how he tries to bowl against the LSG skipper.
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Ravichandran Ashwin once expressed his strategy to bowl to Virender Sehwag. He discovered that Sehwag was extremely good at hitting good deliveries. So his simple strategy to Sehwag was to bowl rubbish deliveries. And somehow, it worked. On similar lines, Rishabh Pant is the kind of player, who has the ability to convert good deliveries into run-scoring opportunities. Hence, Mark Wood stated the importance of variations in sending Pant back to the pavilion.
On numerous occasions, Pant has walked out to bat and smashed the first or second delivery for a boundary. Or has at least attempted to! Though it is a risk-taking deal, it indicates the mindset of a batter who is willing to pay the price for greater returns. By doing so, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter can inflict pressure on the bowlers, making them do something that they do not want to. And that’s how he creates opportunities. Mark Wood stated that being unpredictable is the biggest weapon for a bowler against the explosiveness of Pant.
“I think you have to be so unpredictable, that it plays into his [Rishabh Pant] hands. He can just stand there and wait for anything difficult. But if you are the same all the time, he is so good that he hits it where he wants. So you got to have a mixture of holding your nerve with the odd ball which is unpredictable”, said Wood.
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Everything about Rishabh Pant is not just explosiveness. Maybe it was before, in his initial years. But the 27-year-old has coupled the same up with a brilliant sense of awareness, which helps him navigate the team through difficult situations. Aggression is a virtue that has helped batters best, when they knew the situations to use it in. And Rishabh Pant is slowly making his way towards one of the best wicketkeeper batter for India.
In 47 Tests, the LSG skipper has piled up 3,427 runs at an impressive average of 44.5. To add to that, he possesses eight hundreds and 18 fifties to his name in the brief period. In the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Pant was the fourth-highest run-scorer for India, despite playing four Tests instead of five. His impact in those four Tests, not just with the batting, but also the wicketkeeping was massive for the visitors.
It seems as if England is Pant’s favourite opposition. In just 16 games against England in the longest format, Pant has piled up 1,260 runs with five hundreds. Two of those five came in the first Test of the recent series in Leeds. As the vice-captain, Pant was instrumental in taking responsibility and will be one of the most important assets for India in the future. His ability to rise to the occasion when the team needs someone to is what stands out every time.
