Well, after watching the India-Australia series (2020-21) and half way through the England series at home in India, Rishabh Pant has emerged as one of the most dependable (yes, I used that word in a sentence with Rishabh Pant) and reliable Indian batsman. In 4 consecutive matches he has played a match-defining innings. Be it Match-Saving, Match-Winning, or just good old Face-Saving to get the innings total to a respectable score, his swashbuckling style that was once considered unfit for Test cricket (by myself included) is now deemed “refreshing”.
What is more off script is how well he has partnered with Cheteshwar Pujara in an already “greatest hits” list of memorable innings. What a combination! If Pant is the guy all the girls want to date, Pujara is the guy your parents want you to marry. Little did we realize they were the latest entry to the list of all time great jodi’s…
- Ram – Lakhan
- Amar – Prem
- Jai-Veeru
- Dravid-Laxman
- (new entry) Pujara – Pant
Back to Pant. Like many others, I too was not a believer. Test cricket needs a “proper” batsman, with application and technique. Test players need maturity, and a game plan, fortitude to bat for session after session. Yeah, good luck with that. It’s the modern Test era, and the game is mental more than anything. Can you spend time at the wicket… and if you can’t, can you have an impact while you are there!
It’s that last point that has changed the equation for me when it comes to judging Pant. Stop equating him to others. Stop converting him into something he is not. We don’t ask Ashwin to bowl reverse swing, nor Jimmy Anderson to change it up with a doosra. If he is in the playing XI, then he is truly there as the X-factor, not the guy to build a 3-session innings or save a test by batting for 200 deliveries. He will live, prosper, and die by his own willow sword and by the process that is his own madness. No other player in recent times has shown he can change the course and dynamics of an innings. There are not many who can do that, so value it, and give it freedom to blossom with confidence.
Accept him as-is if you play him, but don’t try to change him. Just ask that he keeps getting better.
