Rishabh Pant was hit hard on the elbow by a bouncer from Pat Cummins when he batted in the first innings of the Sydney Test. However, with a Test match to save and with Australia holding the advantage, Rishabh Pant decided to script a special moment in his cricketing career. Rishabh Pant came out to bat came out to bat in the second innings following the dismissal of skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Australia were holding the upper hand. In the passage of play that followed, Rishabh Pant blasted 97 which included 12 fours and three sixes as India stayed on course for an impossible win against Australia in the Sydney Test. Rishabh Pant was overcoming the pain by showing tremendous guts and determination and it was unfortunate that he could not smash his second century at the Sydney Cricket Ground, having earlier hit 159 in the 2019 Test.
During the course of his knock, Rishabh Pant was on a high dosage of pain killers. However, in a report on Cricbuzz, Rishabh Pant kept muttering under his breath, "Chal, tujhe kuch nahin hua hain (Come on, nothing has happened to you)". It is this heroic determination that has seen Rishabh Pant being elevated to a different league after a tough first day in which he dropped two catches off debutant Will Pucovski. During the course of his knock, Rishabh Pant once again created records. His current average of 56.88 in Australia is the best by an overseas player in the last decade. He now has 10 consecutive 25+ scores in Tests against Australia. At the age of 23, his average in Australia is on par with Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
Story of Pant's redemption
Rishabh Pant has been the X-factor in the Indian cricket team batting line-up and his assault on the Australian bowlers was simply brilliant. At one point, his partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara kept India on track for a famous win but his dismissal on 97 slowed India down. With Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin both injured, it became very difficult for India to go for the win. Rishabh Pant's knock in Sydney once again continued his great record at the venue, where he also scored a hundred in the Pink Ball warm-up game at the same venue before the Test match.
Rishabh Pant will probably play as a batsman in the Brisbane Test and allow Wriddhiman Saha to keep wickets. The four-match series is level 1-1 and a win or draw for India will help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
