Rishabh Pant – The Preview of A Flamboyant Southpaw.

Indian cricket has seen many greats from Delhi, producing quality batsmen and fine bowlers over the years. The recent addition to the list is the young and vibrant Rishabh Pant. Coming through the U-19 system, he dominated in Ranji Trophy and did very well for India A team. Pant was soon rewarded and received his deserved Indian cap in 2018. Still, the journey was not so easy for the young lad, as he had to go through many ups and lows in his life very early on, but never failed to amaze us with his big heart at this very young age.

Rishabh Pant started his career with Rajasthan in U-14 and U-16 but then moved back to Delhi due to his intolerance to biasing at Rajasthan. Pant made his debut in Ranji Trophy in 2015, when he was just 18 years old, and followed it up by playing for the India U-19 team in the World Cup in 2016. Rishabh Pant had an excellent U-19 World Cup outing. His 24 balls 78 was the fastest fifty of the tournament. He also grabbed attention with a hundred against Namibia. In the same year, the Delhi franchise bought him for a dazzling amount of Rs 1.9 Cr in the IPL. His IPL debut was against Gujarat Lions in 2016, where he scored 20 runs from 17 balls. But his arrival in the world's richest league was announced two years later in 2018, where he amassed 684 runs at an average of 52.62 and with a massive strike rate of 173.60. He followed his consistent performance again the next season, scoring 488 runs at an average of 37.54 with a strike rate of 162.67 in 2019. One of his career-changing knocks in IPL came in 2017, a swashbuckling 97 from 43 balls against Gujarat Lions while chasing 209 runs. This innings launched himself to the onlookers in the cricketing world and helped recognize the talent of Pant.

From the initial days on the national side, it was a tough climb for Rishabh Pant as he was always expected to carry forward the legacy of the stalwart M S Dhoni. Comparing him to MS and demanding him to perform as the successor of M S Dhoni, social media was always harsh on him. Fans on the ground cheered for Dhoni whenever he took up gloves, body-shamed him, and received flaks for his modus operandi of gameplay. But he always backed his game, trusted his talent, and was rewarded as he turned out to be a match-winner for the Indian team as well as for his franchise, Delhi Capitals.

Pant has been emerging as an all-format player, which was visible through the England ODI series that happened in March. He is not only good in shorter formats, as he even scored a triple hundred against Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy, which showed how good an all-format player he was even at the age of 20. At this young age, he has already achieved things that have been the dream of many players. His contribution to the Indian team in winning BGT, captaining the IPL team, leading them to the play-offs can be seen clearly and now, emerging as one of the promising players to dominate world cricket. The rise of Pant was phenomenal with Delhi Capitals, roping him in 2016. He won the emerging player award in 2018. Captaining the team in 2021, and becoming the all-time leading run-scorer of the franchise, he is all set to take the full-time role of captaincy from IPL 2022.

Experts and fans always criticized him, saying 'he doesn't play according to the situations'. He was slammed for throwing his wicket away, playing unnecessary risky shots in important situations. But it was his natural instinct as an aggressive batsman to go after the bowler and gradually he developed the controlled aggression as well, evidently showcasing it with the knocks at Sydney, Gabba, and Chepauk. The questions raised about Pant as a player was befittingly replied to, by him through his performances in Border Gavaskar 2020-21 in Australia.

The flamboyant version of Pant will help the Indian team in the middle order in coming years in all formats. The way he plays both spin and quick makes him one of the most lethal and promising for the future in this sport. This shows the growth of Rishabh Pant as a batsman, who has honed his skills and has come a long way.

(Image source: Google)

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