Revision as of 15:44, 9 January 2019

2016

Achievements, in brief

Narayanan S, RED-HOT RISHABH, Nov 09 2016 : The Times of India

Pant Shatters Domestic Record With Explosive Ton

When Rishabh Pant bats, fielders guarding the boundary line are always on their toes. However, it's not they who are kept busy . Instead, it's the groundstaff and the enthusiastic kids, roaming around the periphery of the ground, who have to fetch the ball after each of his monstrous sixes.When Pant is on song, cricket statisticians are also kept busy because he breaks records for fun.

[Nov 2016] was no different as country's new cricket sensation n wicketkeeper-batsman hit the fastest first-class ton in Indian domestic cricket with a blink-and-you-miss 48-ball century against Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy Group B tie at St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba.For Pant, this was his second century of the game after his whirlwind 117 in the first innings.

He came in to bat when Delhi were 214/3 in their second innings after being asked to follow on and his knock of 135 from 67 balls, studded with 13 sixes and eight fours, helped Delhi earn a draw without much sweat on the final day .

It was with a record-shattering performance that Pant shot into fame earlier in 2016 in the U-19 World Cup where he scored an 18-ball fifty against Nepal. Now just in his first full season in domestic cricket, the dashing southpaw has eclipsed the record for the fastest ton, a milestone which was jointly held by former Tamil Nadu batsman VB Chan drasekhar (in an Irani Trophy tie) and RK Bora of Assam (56 balls).

The twin tons in Thumba has seen Pant emerge as the leading runscorer in Ranji Trophy this season with 799 runs from five matches, including four century knocks. And jaws drop when stats reveal that those runs have come at an astounding strike-rate of 113.17. He averages 114.16 this season and has clobbered 44 sixes so far.

While he was not going after the record of the fastest century , he was eyeing the record of most sixes in a first-class innings in India. “I knew about the 14 sixes record and wanted to hit more than that.“

In the end, he fell with 13 sixes to his name, just one shy of the record jointly held by Shakti Singh of Himachal and Ishan Kishan of Jharkhand who cleared the boundary 14 times earlier in the same match at Thumba.

With four centuries to his name already , it is curious to know whether Pant has set any targets for himself. “I have my own targets. But I don't reveal it,“ said the boy who hails from Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

2019

Australia: historic century breaks Dhoni’s record

Rishabh Pant scores historic century, breaks MS Dhoni’s record, January 4, 2019: The Times of India

Young Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant on Friday broke Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 12 year record of the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper in an overseas Test.

Pant crossed the milestone during the second day of the fourth and the final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Delhi lad, who was batting on 145, smashed Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood over mid-off for a superb boundary to go past Dhoni, who held the record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper in an overseas Test. Dhoni had scored 148 against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 2006.

Pant remained unbeaten at 159 off 189 balls, before captain Virat Kohli declared the Indian innings at 622/7 at the SCG.

Pant’s knock was studded with 15 boundaries and a six.

The 21-year-old now also holds the joint record of the highest score by an Asian wicket-keeper outside the sub-continent. Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim also scored 159 against New Zealand in Wellington in 2017.

Pant also became first Indian wicket-keeper to notch up a century against Australia in Australia in Tests.

The young wicket-keeper batsman took 137 balls to bring up his career’s second Test century.

Before Pant, former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer held the record of highest score by an Indian stumper on Australian soil, when he scored 89 in Adelaide in 1967.