Rishabh Pant will be playing Tests in England for the second time in his career. Rishabh Pant has turned into a superstar of Indian cricket over the last 12-18 months thanks to his heroics on the Australia tour where India won with a depleted squad.
The wicketkeeper-batsman played key knocks especially in the last two Test matches at Sydney and Brisbane to bring glory to the country and is now gearing up to play in the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
The 23-year-old made his Test debut on the last England tour and he ended up scoring his maiden century in the format later in the series as well. Rishabh Pant has come a long way in the format since then amassing 1403 runs in 21 Tests at a brilliant average of 43.84 with three tons and six fifties.
Rishabh Pant Thinks It’s Been An Amazing Journey For Him As A Test Cricketer
Rishabh Pant is in England since June as he also played the marquee World Test Championship against New Zealand and also contracted COVID during his free time away from the game. However, he is perfectly fine now and is set to play the opening Test starting from August 4. Ahead of the series opener, BCCI posted a few clips of his training while interviewing him where the left-hander reflected on his journey at the international level so far.
“I think it’s been an amazing journey because there have been a lot of ups and downs. But it has been a good learning for me. As a cricketer you evolve, learning from your mistakes, improve yourselves, come back to the ground and perform well,” he said.
Rishabh Pant, who had not stayed in the team hotel during the 20-day break period, tested positive on July 8. He was asymptomatic and was in isolation. Rishabh Pant fully recovered after completing a 10-day quarantine and a string of negative Covid-19 tests.
The southpaw’s form with the bat has been one of the major reasons behind India reaching the WTC final. The wicketkeeper-batsman has amassed 662 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 41.37 in the WTC cycle.
Rishabh Pant Thinks He Has Evolved More And Getting The Desired Results
Rishabh Pant was just 20 years old when he played his first Test and it was a dream come true for him wearing the whites for the country. But the journey was not easy for the youngster as he was out of form for quite some time in international cricket. Speaking about the same Rishabh Pant stated that he was evolved as a cricketer over the last 12 months or so and felt that one should trust the process and the results will come.
“I think as a cricketer, I have evolved more what I have been doing in last one year or so. You keep doing your processes right but sometimes you don’t get the result. But you have to trust your process and keep doing the same thing again and again. I have been getting the results now so that’s the happy part,” Pant further added.
Rishabh Pant continued his love affair with Australia on India’s last tour in 2020-21. With the team battling multiple adversities and injuries, he scored 97 runs off 118 balls in the third Test and an unbeaten 89 in the fourth Test in Brisbane and was adjudged Man of the match, as India won the match and series.
Rishabh Pant was picked in the playing XI again ahead of Wriddhiman Saha for the home Test series against England. In the four Tests, he scored 270 runs at an average of 54.00, including one century and two fifties. He batted at a strike rate of 84.11 in the four-match series, which India won comprehensively 3-1.