IPL 2017: Virender Sehwag Saultes Rishabh Pant’s Steely Grit
Apr 9, 2017 at 4:30 PM
Virender Sehwag has applauded Rishabh Pant’s courage to get back to the cricket field after meeting with a huge personal tragedy.
Rishabh’s father Rajendra Pant passed away in his sleep on Wednesday night due to a cardiac arrest. The 19-year-old was made aware of the tragic news and rushed to his hometown Ashok Nagar, Roorkee after informing the team management to be with his mother Saroj and sister Sakshi during their time of grief.
Sehwag was one among the many who tried cheering him up with motivating words. Posting on Twitter, he wrote a lengthy message for the youngster appreciating his attitude.
May God Bless you @RishabPant777 . More power to you. Om Shanti ! pic.twitter.com/DusWew88wI
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 9, 2017
Well, the fact that an individual of any age requires some time to overcome the grief needs no explanation. It is an emotionally draining moment, no matter how strong you are mentally. Therefore, it was surprising to see the teenager stick to commitment and re-join the team as soon as possible.
Talking about Rishabh, Delhi captain Zaheer Khan said,
“He (Pant) played well, and just needed support at the other end. He showed a lot of courage after going through a personal trauma, we are all with him.”
The strength of character was on display last night when he walked out to bat for Delhi Daredevils during the chase and almost took his team home. He announced his arrival in an emphatic fashion with a six off Iqbal Abdullah.
It was a sort of a declaration that despite multiple thoughts crossing in his minds, he wasn’t distracted and was ready to take up the challenge on offer.
DD Pant walked in after the departure of Billings in the 8th over and took the matter into his own hands and began executing his work with zen-like calmness.
DD soon began to crumble but he stood firm and took the match to the last over before eventually watching his effort go in vain. He ended up as the highest run-getter for his side with 57 runs in 36 balls. A plain look at the DD scorecard reveals the importance of his knock and how it was one man leading the way for his team.
The match could have been won had Amit Mishra, batting at No. 9, not wasted too many deliveries in the final overs of the match. RCB really came back because of him and all hopes were dashed when Pawan Negi bowled a superb final over which saw Pant get dismissed off the first delivery.