Finishing a match isn’t every batsman’s cup of tea. One needs to possess that rare ability to hit boundaries at will. It’s a big responsibility. There isn’t the luxury that a top order batter enjoys of taking extra deliveries to settle down. The impact has to be from the get-go, every move calculated. One may even have to curtail their natural instincts for the sake of the team.
Rishabh Pant has been bestowed with this responsibility at a young age. In January this year, a few months after he turned 21, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying that Pant is expected to chase down totals for the country. “We have asked him to do a specific job – finish games. Get into the habit of finishing games,” Shastri told India Today.
Such an expectation from a player who is just a couple of years into his international career is a testament to his talent. And Pant, as his ultra-aggressive game-style suggests, is always up for a challenge. Against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League on Monday, he served another reminder of his ability to deliver under pressure.
Set a target of 192 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur after Ajinkya Rahane roared back to form with a classy ton, Pant scored an unbeaten 78 off just 36 balls to hand his team a six-wicket win.
He’d walked in to bat at the fall of his captain Shreyas Iyer’s dismissal, with Delhi needing 114 runs from 67 deliveries. The left-hander went on to play a chanceless knock – cutting, pulling, sweeping, scooping and driving his team to the top of the points table.
A marauding strike-rate of 217 might say otherwise, but, as Sachin Tendulkar suggested in his tweet, it was an intelligent knock from Pant. He picked his moments, stuck to his strengths and hit three of his four sixes in the last five overs of the innings. It was an effort that one would expect from a seasoned campaigner, not from someone as young as Pant. But we know he isn’t an ordinary cricketer, his Test centuries in England and Australia last year provide ample proof of that.
This isn’t the first time Pant has batted through for the Capitals this season. In their opener against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, Pant smacked a majestic 27-ball 78 to help his team defeat the three-time champions in their own den. In fact, the Delhi lad is the highest run-getter in the T20 tournament since IPL 2017. However, despite all his accomplishments, there’s something lacking in him. Or at least that’s what the country’s selectors believe.
The biggest talking point in Indian cricket over the past couple of weeks has been Pant’s exclusion from India’s preliminary squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup, beginning on May 30 in England. He was ignored for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in place of Dinesh Karthik. “In a crunch game, wicketkeeping is also important. That is the only reason why we went ahead with DK, otherwise Pant was almost there,” chief selectors MSK Prasad had said.
That explanation may well be skewed, since Pant is a regular in Test matches where ‘keeping is the hardest, but the five wise men seem to have missed a big opportunity by not considering Pant as a pure batsman.
Game-changer
It wouldn’t hurt to have a game-changer in a middle order that’s witnessed a game of musical chairs over the past year. The format of the World Cup this time is one where every team will play nine league games each. It’s going to be a long tournament. And Pant can alone win you a couple of matches in such a scenario.
“Really proud seeing Rishabh among the runs. He is on a different planet,” said Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting after the victory over Rajasthan. “He has won two matches for us single-handedly, which is incredible. I know how disappointed he was at not getting selected for the World Cup. I think India has made a big mistake by not picking him. Rishabh could have been devastating in English conditions.”
Pant himself stated that the World Cup snub has had an effect on him. “I won’t lie, the selection thought was running in my mind. I focussed on my process, trusted my prowess and it worked for me,” he said after bagging the Player of the Match award.
For now, it is DC who are reaping the rewards of a wounded Pant. They are at the top of the tree with 14 points from 11 games, and a playoff berth seems most likely.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s first-choice glovesman in limited overs since 15 years and arguably the greatest finisher the game has ever seen, failed to take his team over the line on Sunday. However, the country’s next big wicketkeeping hope made no such mistake the following night. Pant may have missed a World Cup ticket for now but, as Ponting stated on Monday, he surely has many World Cups to play in the future.