He knows how to entertain the crowd; he knows how to hit fabulous and flawless shots. And above everything else, he knows how to win matches for his team. Yes, Rishabh Pant is indeed a pocket dynamo, but what’s even more amazing is that he turns 24 today.
Happy birthday to @BCCI's Rishabh Pant 🎉
What is your favourite moment from the wicketkeeper-batter? 🧤 pic.twitter.com/6BblHgtaCv
— ICC (@ICC) October 4, 2021
In his short career with the Indian Cricket Team, the wicketkeeper from Haridwar, Uttarakhand has managed to win the hearts and respect of many. He was just a 19-year-old youngster when he made his debut against England, in 2017 and it turned out to be a series to forget for him. However, it was during India’s tour of England in 2018 that the world got to witness what Pant had in store for them. In the second innings of the 5th match of the series, Rishabh Pant came in to bat in a tricky situation where India needed someone to stabilize as they were chasing a mammoth score of 464 to win the match. In that situation, Pant partnered up with Lokesh Rahul and scored his maiden test and international century. He played an aggressive inning of 114 runs in just 146 balls, which included 15 fours and 4 sixes. The efforts went in vain though as India lost the match by a margin of 118 runs.
There were many positives to pick from that match and the Indian management decided to go with Rishabh Pant, for the Australian tour later that year. It turned out to the one of the most memorable series for Rishabh Pant’s career as he scored 624 runs in his 12 innings at a strike rate of 72. He made 2 fifties and 1 hundred, with a high score of 159. India thrashed Australia 2-1 in their backyard for the first time in the history of the sport. Rishabh Pant was the pick of the players from this series. In this series, he also became the only second overseas batsman to score a century in England and Australia.
Rishabh Pant repeated the feat for his team in the 2020/21’s tour of Australia as this time a depleted Indian team tamed a power-packed Australian lineup. The pick of the series was the innings that Rishabh Pant played in the Gabba Test, where he led the young Indian side to hand Australia a loss in a test match at Brisbane for the first time in 32 years.
Apart from his batting masterclass, Rishabh Pant is loved by his fans for the banters. He is a very common voice on the stump mic these days. Some of his famous comments have had the commentators in splits. Overall, Rishabh Pant is a well-rounded performer and a gem in making. Although his wicket-keeping and batting skills are often compared with that of M.S. Dhoni his predecessor in the game, Pant always ensures that he will get there, not immediately but certainly.
Audacious batsman 💪
Solid wicketkeeper 👌
Livewire on the field ⚡️Here's wishing @RishabhPant17 a very happy birthday. 👏 🎂 #TeamIndia
Let's relive his stroke-filled ton against England 🎥 🔽
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2021
