Mumbai: This is now Rishabh Pant’s third tour of England, and his legend continues to grow. Long before Brendon McCullum joined forces with Ben Stokes, the aggressive left-hander from India had shown his commitment to disrupt play even in his debut series in 2018.
Following Pant’s twin hundreds during the Leeds Test, the England bowlers now know they will have to search for ways to blunt his genius for the remainder of the tour.
“When I first saw him, he reminded me of Adam Gilchrist... a different sort of player, of course, but... the (big) difference it can make to a team when a wicketkeeper can bat at that level. The beauty is Rishabh gets runs at a very fast rate which gives you time to win cricket matches,” former India head coach Greg Chappell said on the sidelines of the launch of ‘str8bat’, a smart bat technology device.
Being likened to Gilchrist shows the heady heights Pant has been able to attain. The Australian is widely regarded as the best wicketkeeper-batter, for he could bat belligerently while holding his end of the bargain with the gloves. Pant does the same and is inching closer to Gilchrist’s batting average – 44.44 to 47.60. In fact, the Indian left-hander can aim even higher now that is batting at No.5, two batting spots higher than Gilchrist.
“Some of the shots Rishabh played aren’t in the MCC playing manual. He is really reinventing the game,” said Chappell. “You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball. At any stage he is likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect. It keeps the opposition on their toes. He is a match winner. He very nearly made the difference in the last game.”
{{/usCountry}}“Some of the shots Rishabh played aren’t in the MCC playing manual. He is really reinventing the game,” said Chappell. “You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball. At any stage he is likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect. It keeps the opposition on their toes. He is a match winner. He very nearly made the difference in the last game.”
{{/usCountry}}The method to Pant’s madness has proved very difficult to second guess for the opposition. The only thing you can safely predict is that he will look to do the unpredictable all the time.
Whether it was charging Ben Stokes second ball in the 1st innings or repeating the dose to Chris Woakes second ball in the 2nd innings, those were Pant’s early punches before he settled in. It didn’t matter that he found boundaries in contrasting regions – a signature boundary over Stokes head and an edged boundary behind the wicket against Woakes. It was Pant’s way of showing early intent. Not playing for close towards the end of Day 1 and advancing down the pitch to Woakes for a four to square leg was also part of the Pant gameplan.
His falling scoop shot, which is much applauded when it comes off and pilloried when it doesn’t, wasn’t seen until quite late in the 1st innings. In his 80s, Pant fell over to a Shoaib Bashir off-spinner and sent one for four to fine leg. The spinner’s length disrupted, Pant was then able to smack another one over deep midwicket in the same over.
“Rishabh’s falling paddle sweep is not accidental. It is intentional and extremely clever. Going down with the shot allows him to get under the ball and scoop it over leg slip with control,” Sachin Tendulkar posted on X.
In the second essay at Leeds, Pant appeared to be in an uncharacteristic hurry to begin with. The paddle scoop was going wrong. He wasn’t playing the match situation. That’s when Pant’s self-talk was caught by the stump mic. “Maarna hai toh seedha lag jaayega naa iss ball pe, kuch alag karne ki zarurat nahi hai.” (“If you want to hit, you can hit it straight, there is no need to do anything different.”)
He settled to bide his time, before striking again, at the moment of his choosing.