Rishabh Pant earned comparisons with legendary batters like Kapil Dev, Sir Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Virender Sehwag after the southpaw’s counter-attacking approach helped India back on track on Day 2 of the third and final Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Coming in at a time when India suffered a mini collapse, losing three wickets within a span of 10 balls, Pant joined Shubman Gill and revived the Indian innings.
Starting overnight on one, Pant took on the New Zealand bowlers, especially against Ajaz Patel. The Indian wicketkeeper started the day with three fours in the first over on Saturday off Patel before going down the track against the Indian-born Kiwi later in the innings.
In fact, Pant brought up his fifty in just 36 balls, which is also the fastest in Tests by an Indian against New Zealand. Shastri, who is commentating in the Test match, said Pant carries the same reputation that Dev, Botham, Sehwag and Richards carried while batting during their time.
“He was 1 overnight and he’s already outscored (Shubman) Gill. The thing with Pant is that he carries a certain reputation – of destroying bowling attacks – and when that is the case, bowlers think ‘if I get it even remotely wrong, he will smash me’. People of carried that kind of a reputation were Viv Richards, Kapil Dev Ian Botham.” said Shastri, who had worked with Pant when the former was the India head coach.
“I took some names. Virender Sehwag too played that brand of cricket,” he added. However, Pant was finally trapped by Ish Sodhi for 60 off 59 balls which included eight fours and two sixes.
Delhi Capitals release Rishabh Pant
Meanwhile, a couple of days earlier, Pant was released his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals ahead of the mega auction for the upcoming season. Pant, who was out of action for 14 months following a car accident in December 2022, made his return in IPL 2024 and led Delhi Capitals to a sixth-place finish.
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