The left-handed wicket-keeper batter of the Indian team, Rishabh Pant, has started his preparations for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2024, which is scheduled to begin on September 05, as it marks the start of India’s home season, where they face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series and New Zealand in a three-match series.
It was December 2022, when Rishabh Pant took park in his last red-ball game in Bangladesh, before meeting that dreadful car accident that ruled him out of action for more than one year. After missing the last ODI World Cup in 2023 at home, the Delhi-born returned for the T20 World Cup 2024 and lifted the title for the Blue Brigade.
The 26-year-old also played the whole Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 to prove his fitness in these comparative games, but before making a return to the Indian Test squad, he needs to keep on going with the same consistency in the red-ball domestic tournament.
Watch: Rishabh Pant tries aggressive shots aiming BGT 2024-25
Even though India is starting their red-ball season with the two-Test series at home, the focus on them will be on the upcoming five-match series in the longest format in the upcoming Australia trip. After winning two consecutive summers in 2018-19 and 2020-21, their goal is to make a hat-trick of victories.
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Before the Duleep Trophy, Rishabh Pant was seen to make his return to the nets, as he faced a few balls against the pacers and the spinners. In the video that he posted on Instagram, the left-handed batter was seen to be going through a right balance of defense and aggression.
He threw his bat at the balls which have been short and wide, besides using his feet against the spinners to smash the ball out of the horizon. The veteran also showed his reverse-sweep shots, besides lapping the ball behind the stumps. But, besides all of these, he has also looked to play the ball with the straight ball keeping the head in good shape.
“I try not to have expectations because they can tend to tear you apart. I try to work as hard as I possibly can and give every ounce of a hundred percent & keep learning from it.” Rishabh Pant wrote in the video he posted on Instagram.
It will be a huge advantage for India if he gets prepared for their Australia trip. In the 2018-19 summer, the captain of the Delhi Capitals was the second-highest run-getter of the four-match series with 350 runs in four games at an average of under 60 and a strike rate of 73.99, with the help of his unbeaten 159-run knock in Sydney.
In the very next summer of 2020-21, Rishabh Pant returned with the same aggression, and ended up as the third-highest run-scorer of the series with 274 runs in three games at an average of 68.50 and a strike rate of around 70, thanks to his couple of half-centuries, while the unbeaten 89-run knock at the Gabba will remain in the hearts of the Indian fans for a long time.
But the question arises, should he straightaway make his return to the Indian Test squad, especially after Dhruv Jurel comes with valuable contributions in his absence? KL Rahul has also done a great done with the gloves and bat. Rishabh Pant has notched up 2271 runs in 56 red-ball innings at an average of 43.67, celebrating 11 half-centuries and five centuries, and the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2024 becomes the most vital aspect behind his selection.