When Rishabh Pant faced that fatal and unfortunate car accident in December 2022 after the end of the Test series in Bangladesh, the images of his physical health weren’t giving a promising picture of his probable return to the game. He was out of action for the entire 2023 and missed a significant share of his career at that age.
The comeback was always going to be difficult for Rishabh Pant. He worked hard on his recovery at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and later featured in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024. A decent season in that league pushed him into the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
But the biggest anticipation was going to be his Test return, and it came during the opening game of the two-match series against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He walked into the middle in the first session of the game when the home was struggling against the pace of Hasan Mahmud.
Ravichandran Ashwin addresses the return of Rishabh Pant as ‘miraculous’
The wicket-keeper batter decided to smash the bowlers around the park so that runs would keep on coming, and that will also put pressure on the visiting side. He collected 39 runs in 52 balls in the first innings, shouldering on six boundaries at a strike rate of 75. But, he chased a short and wide delivery of Mahmud to get an outside edge on the blade.
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In the second innings, things were pretty different. Having bowled out the opponents for a cheap score in their first innings and enjoying a healthy lead, the hosts were in the driver’s seat of the contest. But, the two-time runners-up of the World Test Championship (WTC) again lost a few early wickets in the game and found themselves struggling.
Rishabh Pant arrived in the middle quite late on the second day but kept on batting with a free mind, as he put up a 167-run stand for the third wicket with Shubman Gill. The Delhi-born used his feet to dispatch the bowlers around the ground and entertained the crowd with his knock of 109 runs in just 128 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and four sixes.
He also equals MS Dhoni as the most number of Test centuries for a designated wicket-keeper batter for India, to now have 2419 runs in the longest format of 58 innings at an average of 44.8 and a strike rate of around 74.
The veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has praised the contribution of Rishabh Pant as ‘miraculous’ before sharing how the batter hardly lost his concentration from the game as he was always backed by the team management.
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“I don’t think Rishabh’s form and ability were ever questioned. It’s the way he came back and put himself out there that is miraculous, which is probably God-sent.” The Chennai-born expressed at the end of the game, where he won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century and five-wicket haul. “I didn’t think he felt any pressure. He is entertaining and will only get better. He never lacked any confidence, and he will always have the backing of the team.”
Ashwin picked up 6/88 in the second innings to bundle out the Bangladesh side for 234 in the fourth innings to go 1-0 up in the series. Rishabh Pant will look to carry the same form in Kanpur for the second game, besides keeping the aim on the Australia trip.