Sydney Test: Rishabh Pant’s perfectly-timed blitz lifts India
The wicketkeeper’s 33-ball 61 on a trickly SCG pitch keeps Indian hopes alive of a win to square the series
Sydney: Right until Rishabh Pant walked out to bat on Saturday, wickets had been the order of the day in the Sydney Test. Australia had lost nine wickets on Day 2 of the final Test and India were tottering at 59/3 in the second innings. Batting was difficult, the grassy wicket was spicy and the tall Aussie pacers were relentless.
The previous day, in similar conditions, the left-hander ground out an out-of-character 98-ball 40 — “I was not in a frame of mind to take charge of the game”, he later said. But now, with a match and series on the line, he reverted to his fearless norm and went after the bowling in a free-spirited manner that perhaps, in the situation, only he could have mustered.
At stumps, India were 141/6 thanks to Pant’s top-score of a 33-ball 61. The next highest score was opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s breezy 22 (35 b, 4x4).
The sheer audacity of Pant’s knock was nothing new. His style has never been orthodox but to do it just after being criticised over lack of game awareness following the Melbourne Test defeat showed his strength of conviction. If he had been dismissed early, Pant might have been in line for more critical remarks.
But this wasn’t blind hitting; rather, he took a call based on the wicket and decided, even before making his way to the middle, that this was the best way to bat on a green SCG wicket of uneven bounce.
From the first ball, the Aussies knew he was going after the bowlers. He charged down the pitch to hammer Scott Boland for six. He was beaten the next ball but it didn’t matter, his mind was made up.
This, in essence, was how India wanted Pant to bat. But too often in the series, he has been caught in two minds. Nothing of the sort happened on Saturday.
The falling pull, the flat-batted hit down the ground, the slogs over deep square leg… they were all brought out as he raced towards a fifty. He had made 40 off 98 balls while taking body blows in the first innings, and now he had 40 off 20.
A pick-up shot over midwicket for six saw Pant bring up his fifty off 29 balls, the second-fastest for India in Tests. The fastest, off 28 balls, is also by Pant.
To celebrate the fifty, he hit another six, and then chased a wide one from Pat Cummins. The resultant edge was taken by wicketkeeper Alex Carey. As he walked off the field, it felt like a storm had passed. You could take a breath and leave your seats… for while he was there, not a soul moved.
“On a wicket where majority of the batters have batted at a SR of 50 or less, @RishabhPant17’s knock with a SR of 184 is truly remarkable. He has rattled Australia from ball one. It is always entertaining to watch him bat. What an impactful innings!” said former India star Sachin Tendulkar on X.
While the innings did rattle Australia, this is what the hosts were expecting from the start of the series.
“First of all, it’s not surprising, (that’s) the way he plays. We were a little bit surprised in the first innings, the way he went about his work,” said Australia coach Andrew McDonald. “He’s got an incredible ability to put pressure back on to bowlers.
“We’re planning for that though, we planned leading into the summer. We bounced in and out of a few plans there. He clearly kept taking on the boundary riders and was getting away with it. It was an innings that you would say was right for that time.”
Indeed, Pant’s time in the middle is always an exciting affair and he may get it wrong at times, but the general idea to chase a win or to move a game forward is always the right one. That is what makes him unique; that is what makes him Pant.
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