India wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant has rated century against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2018 as one of his top five innings of all time. Pant smoked an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls with 15 boundaries and seven sixes to take Delhi Capitals to 187/5 from 43/3. Pant blasted the highest IPL score by an Indian batsman but it wasn’t enough for the Capitals as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson plundered 92* and 83* to take Sunrisers home.
During the innings, Pant was involved in a near run-out incident, which could have been his fourth in four innings. The batsman channelled his pent-up frustration into a savage attack on the Sunrisers bowling. He took Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 43 runs off 11 balls, including five successive boundaries in the final over.
“It was a different feeling because the wicket was a bit difficult. The ball was stopping a bit initially and we had lost a few wickets as well. It felt like I had a responsibility to lift my team out of trouble and give it a good total. We had decided that 150-160 would be a good target on that wicket, but we ended up getting 190-something,” Pant told Delhi Capitals on Instagram.
“In the second innings the wicket got better to bat on and there was dew. But it was one of the most amazing feeling. Whatever cricket I’ve played, I would rate that innings in one of my top five knocks. If we’d won the match, it couldn’t have gotten bigger than that. You don’t feel the importance of an innings like that when the team loses. “
{{/usCountry}}“In the second innings the wicket got better to bat on and there was dew. But it was one of the most amazing feeling. Whatever cricket I’ve played, I would rate that innings in one of my top five knocks. If we’d won the match, it couldn’t have gotten bigger than that. You don’t feel the importance of an innings like that when the team loses. “
{{/usCountry}}Pant finished the season with 684 runs from 14 innings – the most by a Delhi Capitals player – at an average of 52.61 with five fifties and one century. That season put Pant on the map and the youngster drafted into India’s Test and ODI squad, eventually going on to make his debuts across both formats.
“I consider that a life-changing season of IPL, because whenever a young cricketer plays, he is looking for a big breakthrough. I was doing well but I knew that I had to be excellent, so I always strive to do more than just good and try and be more consistent,” he said.