Rishabh Pant's nervous 90's: All five instances of India star missing out on Test century

Rishabh Pant played a blinder of an innings on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka but ended up falling for 96 off 97 balls.

India's Rishabh Pant looked like he was close to tears as he sat alongside captain Rohit Sharma in the dressing room after being dismissed on 96 off 97 balls on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. Pant had played a blinder of an innings, smashing nine fours and four sixes as he switched gears after scoring his half century. 

Pant looked visibly dejected as he walked away after being dismissed for a fifth time in the 90s.(AP)

This is not the first time in his young career that Pant has missed out on a century. In fact, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who has scored four centuries in 28 Tests, has been dismissed as many as five times in the 90s. Only MS Dhoni has been dismissed as many times as him among designated wicketkeepers. Only one of those dismissals have come outside of India. 

1. 92 vs West Indies, Rajkot 2018

Virat Kohli and debutant Prithvi Shaw had both scored centuries already and Pant played a typically aggressive innings against a deflated West Indies. He raced to 92 off 84 balls, smashing 11 fours and two sixes, and seemed to have set his mind on reaching his century with a big hit. Pant only ended up finding short third man while trying to hit Devendra Bishoo over midwicket and thus missed out on a second Test century. 

2. 92 vs West Indies, Hyderabad 2018

Pant was dismissed on exactly the same score in his very next innings but it was quite different to the one he had played in Rajkot. He was far more patient with his batting with Jason Holder causing all sorts of problems for the Indians at the other end. Shannon Gabriel got the wicket, with Shimron Hetmyer taking a brilliant catch at cover point. Pant was India's highest run scorer in the innings. 

3. 97 vs Australia, Sydney 2021

While it was another case of him missing out on a century, this was part of a series of knocks that cemented Pant as India's first choice wicketkeeper in all formats. India were left with an improbable target of 407 runs to chase and seemed to be going for it until Pant's dismissal. He scored 97 off 118 balls, hitting 12 fours and three sixes and in the end, fell while trying to go for a big shot against Nathan Lyon. His knock was important in helping India draw the match and he would later play a pivotal role in the next match at the Gabba to lead India to a historic win.

4. 91 vs England, Chennai 2021

England had scored 578 runs in the first innings thanks to captain Joe Root's masterful 218 off 377 balls and India were tottering at 73-4 when Pant walked in. True to character, he went on the counter putting up 119 runs off 145 balls with Cheteshwar Pujara. 72 of the runs were scored by him in the partnership off just 70 balls. After the Pujara's dismissal, Pant put up 33 runs for the sixth wicket with Washington Sundar, eventually reaching 91 off 88 balls with nine fours and five sixes. It was a miscued hit off Dom Bess that finally led to his fall. 

5. 97 vs Sri Lanka, Mohali 2022

Pant got to his half century in 73 balls. Just 27 balls later, he was batting on 97. He was saving his best for the spinners, smashing Lasith Embuldeniya for 22 runs just after he had reached 50 and hitting Dhananjaya de Silva for consecutive boundaries. However, he fell to Suranga Lakmal in the first over with the second new ball as he tried to defend the delivery. The ball went through the gates and hit his off stump. Pant was visibly dejected, going down on his haunches and kicking the ground as he walked away.