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Rishabh Pant leaves Jimmy Anderson huffing in rainy Trent Bridge

Aug 06, 2021 10:11 PM IST

Pant produced another gritty innings in the first Test against England that was more valuable than the runs it contained.

Thanks to his many moments of genius this year - whether it was his role in the Sydney draw or his heroics in Brisbane and later Ahmedabad - there is very little that Rishabh Pant has gone uncredited for in 2021. Be it with the bat or with his vastly improved wicketkeeping skills, Pant’s rise has truly been exponential on either side of the stumps. But given how fleeting his cameo was at Trent Bridge, Pant’s blink-and-miss innings perhaps may not get its due of being a key knock in India getting any lead in the first place - let alone a handsome one of 95 runs in these extreme bowling-friendly conditions.

Rishabh Pant hits out on Day 3 of the Nottingham Test. (Getty Images) PREMIUM
Rishabh Pant hits out on Day 3 of the Nottingham Test. (Getty Images)

The naked numbers don’t tell the real tale. In the first innings for India, Pant scored 25 runs from 20 balls. For perspective, old-school tailender Jasprit Bumrah scored more (a career-best 28) and ate up more balls (34, his longest innings). Also, Pant and Bumrah hit as many fours (3) and sixes, one apiece. But here’s the thing: Pant’s runs were scored in the toughest of scenarios - four wickets had just fallen for 15 runs, including Virat Kohli for a golden duck - and in the toughest of conditions; so tough that there were four rain breaks and an entire day in the time that 14 balls could be strung together.

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For a while, it seemed that Pant wouldn’t get to bat at all, not long after he was called in to take strike. In the 45th over he played and left and missed James Anderson for three balls before jumping out of his crease off his fourth ball and streaking an edge through the off side for three runs. Already Anderson seemed upset by the young man’s audacity to charge someone who was just moments ago on a hattrick, but not as upset as Anderson would get when KL Rahul was put down in the slips to end this over - the only Anderson over that would end in a long time.

That is because when Anderson returned to bowl the 47th, so did the clouds first (causing bad light) and then the rain too. After just one ball to Rahul, the players left for the dressing rooms and didn’t return for another two hours. When they did, it was for one more ball, and they were off again for another hour. They did return later in the evening, but for a total of two balls this time before play was abandoned through the day. Right through that overnight over, Pant was mentally at the non-striker’s end. But on Day 2, he would be on strike and hence bang in the middle of all the drama that more rain was going to cause.

After Anderson finally completed the 47th over on Friday morning to loud cheers around the terraces of Trent Bridge, his following over was interrupted by rain again. But just before the Indian batsmen were the first to hare off the playing field, Pant had charged Anderson again and sweetly smashed him straight back for a four. By the time the great English pacer got to reply with a follow-up ball, another hour had passed. Anderson was angry when the players returned to the field, and that anger only peaked when his first ball to Pant after the boundary was thought to be a caught behind but turned down by the umpire.

Words were exchanged at the end of the Anderson over and more words were about to be exchanged during the upcoming Ollie Robinson over - where not only great drama would unfold, but Pant would also tip the scales of this key phase in India’s direction. It is essential to remember that at this point India were still 50 runs away from England’s total of 183 and in the brewing conditions - on the field and in the sky - that gap seemed a bridge too far. Apart from Pant’s flashes on either side of Thursday night, runs had come at a premium. So much so that after Rohit Sharma had departed in the 38th over, the next 12 overs had seen Rahul score 10 runs, Ajinkya Rahane 5 and Cheteshwar Pujara four.

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So hard were the runs to come that when it began raining yet again after Robinson bowled one ball of the 50th over, Pant tucked his bat inside his sweater and started walking towards the dressing room, before all hell broke loose. Anderson yelled at Pant and then the umpire, the umpire in turn stopped Pant and Rahul from leaving the ground and in that annoying English drizzle, play continued. Robinson is a tall man with a busy mouth that he chose to train at Pant after bowling the second ball of the over. So, Pant decided to change the course of the game.

He stood out of his crease and chased at a wide ball, which flew over the cordon for a boundary, and when Robinson replied expectedly with a sharp bouncer, Pant swivelled into a pull and a fat top-edge took it over the ropes. That’s 10 runs from two balls - or a fifth of the entire deficit wiped out in the space of a run-up.

That was possibly the moment when India’s tailenders, watching from the balcony, believed that if it came down to them they would find a way to snatch the lead, for Pant was dismissed off the very next ball. Yet, everyone who followed - Ravindra Jadeja, Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj - ensured that the tiny spark lit by Pant was fanned into a considerable flame.

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