Rishabh Pant
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YEAR WISE STATISTICS
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.
2018
Highest score by Indian in IPL
From: May 11, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
Pant’s 128 n.o. off 63 balls was, till May 2018, the Highest score by an Indian in the IPL
2018-Mar 21
March 17, 2021: The Times of India
From: March 17, 2021: The Times of India
From: March 17, 2021: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Who will rightfully take MS Dhoni, the wicket-keeper batsman's place in the Indian side? That's a question that Indian cricket still hasn't found a definitive answer to as such. After all, those are some very very big shoes to fill.
One young man who is making all the right noises though is the very talented Rishabh Pant. In the recent Test series vs Australia Down Under, Pant showed just how big an impact he can make with the bat, even in foreign conditions. So much so, that he pushed regular Test wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha to the sidelines.
His exploits with the bat saw him make a comeback to the Indian T20 team as well. He was not part of the T20I series vs the Aussies, where KL Rahul was the designated first choice keeper, with Sanju Samson as the back-up.
The squad that was announced for the T20Is vs England though saw Pant being picked as the first choice wicket-keeper batsman.
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.
Getting back his clean bat swing
Arani Basu, December 17, 2019 Times of India
Rishabh Pant went down on his right knee and smacked the first ball he faced over the long-on boundary in the T20I seriesopener in Hyderabad agianst the West Indies. The clean hit settled his anxious coach Tarak Sinha’s nerves.
Pant has been the hot topic in Indian cricket over the last four months. Every discussion has revolved around Pant’s ‘potential’, ‘inconsistency’ and ‘game awareness’. His dismissals have been borderline cringeworthy as the runs dried up till the West Indies arrived.
That was when the 22-year-old decided to go back to the drawing board. He had just one weekend to work with his coaches at Sonnet Club. It was about rediscovering his innate ability to strike the ball cleanly and without fear. At the Sonnet Club, Pant had four-hour nets sessions. Initially he looked scratchy but then Pant, Sinha and his mentor Devender Sharma decided to "free him up", moving him to the centre pitch for sessions of clean hitting.
The idea was to get his bat swing back. “He always says he feels (mentally) lighter when he comes to the club. He would complain that he couldn’t get on with his shots. Everything seemed half-hearted. He would premeditate and plonk his front foot forward. He is all about confidence. Then he said he wanted to practice big shots. That freed him up and the bat swing was back,” Sinha told TOI.
It was then about picking which deliveries to hit. After eight hours of batting over the weekend and plenty of lost balls, Pant left for the West Indies series with a clearer mind.
“We decided that we won’t talk about any criticism. He has to be mentally positive. Even MS Dhoni took time to become what he is now. But it’s also necessary to not hide from the chinks in your game,” the Dronacharya award-winning coach said.
This is when he sat Pant down and talked about the challenges of the second season in international cricket. “I told him people are blocking the on-side. His stance had opened up and he was dragging balls from outside the off-stump to the leg-side. He had to realize that he had to revive his off-side game,” remarked Sinha.
It was an impressive comeback by the youngster, but it remains to be seen if he will find consistency in the coming games.
