[[{“value”:”
Rishabh Pant in action vs Ireland (PC: Debasis Sen)
Rishabh Pant is a born fighter, everyone knows that. Yet, what the Delhi-born wicket-keeper came up with against Ireland on Wednesday at the dirt-track type drop-in pitch at the Nassau County Stadium, was sensational.
There has been plenty of chatter around Pant for years. He is indeed blessed, a term which now sticks to him even more, after his miraculous recovery from a major car accident in December 2022 near Roorkee.
To come out of that high-speed car accident, undergo three reconstruction ligament surgeries on his right knee and bounce back has been defining. If people say there is a divine touch to this audacious wicket-keeper batter, Pant bouncing back to form has been mind-blowing.
The sceptics thought, when he was named captain for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024, it was risk-laden. No, Pant used it not just as an opportunity to test his knees, in terms of flexibility and the ability to bend and “keep” for 20 overs in a match, he was also mastering his shot production.
What has come across as a revelation is how the team management, captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, have used Pant at the No.3 position, high up the batting order. If the first practice match against Bangladesh was an experiment of sorts, it was bold. Pant responded, smacking a half ton.
Would that be prudent, to experiment in the ICC T20 World Cup, sending Pant up the order? Well, Pant has always been brave and bold as a batter, red ball cricket or white ball cricket. The pitch was dicey, batters like Rohit and Pant himself, took blows on their elbows. It was testing, more in the mind. But then, when was Pant ever scared in his life?
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
Rishabh Pant vs Ireland with his reverse scoop (PC: BCCI/X)
His fightback from knee reconstruction, after being taken care of by well-known ortho surgeon Dinshaw Pardiwalla is well documented. It is in rehab and strengthening, Pant defied the odds. He had put on weight, yet he knew how to shed weight, so that it was not harder on his knees. The kind of agility which Pant has shown is captivating.
A wicket-keeper job is not easy at all, more so when the pitch is playing tricks. Pant was alert, his reflexes fantastic. He was ready to do his job and even leap high when the fast bowlers were extracting bounce which was so different from feather-bed tracks prepared for the IPL.
It was, as if, a trial for Pant to show his skills as a ‘keeper and then come out smoking with the bat. Yes, the Ireland bowling attack is not the best in the world but Pant still showed that to be promoted to No.3, he was not going to be weak. His response was similar to that of a heavyweight boxer’s mindset, no fear, just smash the white ball. His reverse scoops and that final six left fans in awe.
“It was sheer rhapsody watching Pant play. I mean, we came from Boston to New York to see India and Pant was such fun,” M.Gopinath, a Boston-based NRI told RevSportz. Gopi is in his mid-50s, played club cricket in New Delhi and has followed Indian cricket for more than 45 years as a fan. “I have been a wicket-keeper myself, so to watch Rishabh Pant leap in the air, grab the ball and then bat like a possessed man was awesome,” gushed Gopi.
Indeed, for Team India, Pant arriving in international cricket after that major car accident has been nothing short of a miracle. To score 36 runs not out off 26 balls was beautiful to watch. So what if it was Ireland as opposition.
Also Read: “What more could I have wanted as a player?” – Sunil Chhetri opens up on his last bow
The post When Rishabh Pant showed he could ‘leap and keep’ as well as whack the white ball against Ireland appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.
“}]]
[[{“value”:”Rishabh Pant is a born fighter, everyone knows that. Yet, what the Delhi-born wicket-keeper came up with against Ireland on Wednesday at the dirt-track type drop-in pitch at the Nassau…
The post When Rishabh Pant showed he could ‘leap and keep’ as well as whack the white ball against Ireland appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.”}]]
