Rishabh Pant made you want to pull your remaining hair out when he charged the third ball at Kagiso Rabada and fell caught behind for a duck in Johannesburg. But in the next Test in Cape Town, he made an unbeaten 100 in a total of 198. And in the following Test in Mohali, he’s now bashed 96 off 97 to convert 175 for 4 into 332 for 6.
Among wicketkeepers who have played at least 49 Test innings, the same as Pant, only Andy Flower, Adam Gilchrist and Les Ames have a better average than Pant’s 40.68. And all three had a higher proportion of not-out innings that also propped up their averages.
To put it simply, Pant reminded us again in Mohali that he’s special; whether he’ll be treated so by fans and critics depends on how soon he dashes down the track, heaves and falls cheaply next. With Pant, no one knows, and that is an integral part of the thrill of watching him bat.
In Mohali, he came in at 170 for 3 and three overs later, saw that become 175 for 4. Rohit Sharma (29), Mayank Agarwal (33), Virat Kohli (45) and Hanuma Vihari (58) had all failed to convert their starts into something substantial.
Rishabh Pant watches the ball sail over the boundary during the first Test. (AP Photo)
Pant came down the pitch to his first ball, from Lasith Embuldeniya, and knocked it back to the bowler. He wanted to drive the second one, but almost gave a return catch. The way he stood facing Embuldeniya, his first instinct was to look to attack, and defend only if he couldn’t. The over after Vihari fell, Pant skipped out and lofted Embuldeniya over long-on for six.
The same Pant would go nine balls without a run either side of tea, even playing out a maiden to Embuldeniya after the interval. He was on 12 off 26. But the mode was to change completely now.
He leapt out and slammed Suranga Lakmal in the air between extra cover and mid-off for four. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer departed for 27 to make it 228 for 5. It made no difference to Pant. He proceeded to cut and paddle Charith Asalanka’s part-time off-spin for fours. It didn’t matter if the ball jagged in sharply from outside off; he’d twist his body to cut square from middle stump.
The fifty was up; incredibly, once Pant goes past 50, he never gets out before reaching the 90s, during which he’s fallen as many as five times.
India’s Rishabh Pant, right, reacts as Sri Lankan players celebrate his wicket during the first Test match. (AP Photo)
He tried a reverse-sweep off Embuldeniya, missed, and faced an unsuccessful lbw appeal. Whether it was the appeal, or the fact that the new ball was only five overs away, Pant shifted to maximum gear now. It was as if a switch had been flicked on inside him. From 50 off 73, Pant would zoom to 92 off 88, taking 42 runs in just 15 balls.
Thirty-eight of those came in boundaries – two sixes and two fours in an Embuldeniya over, and three fours and a six off Dhananjaya de Silva’s off-spin. There were two twos, a mere five dots and no single in that sequence. He wanted the strike to do what he does best – reduce the boundary riders to ball fetchers. Give him the slightest flight and he would rush out hungrily; bowl flatter as a result, and he was waiting on the back foot to thump you in front of square. Bowl good length and he would work it around for runs.
Again and again, he took on deep midwicket and long-on, and cleared them with ease. The number of deep fielders kept creeping up. Three, four, five. Pant teased them with those one-handed straight hits. Even when not close to the pitch of the ball, he placed it dead between long-on and long-off.
Anyone of those could have gone to hand on another day, but on Friday afternoon, they didn’t even remotely look like chances. In a matter of four overs, India had gone from 277 for 5 to 327 for 5, and Pant had really hurt Sri Lanka before they could take the second new ball. He fell as soon as they took it, but yet again, he’d not only revived India, he had transformed the momentum of an innings that had been threatening to run out of steam.
And no matter how many times he falls in the 90s, you know you can’t even think of calling them nervous 90s. Pant’s idea of batting preparation a day out from a Test is to go for six after six in the nets. He’ll be back on Saturday to give Sri Lanka some chirp from behind the stumps. This has been said before, and there will still be plenty of occasions to say it again, but we should just let him be. He’s one of a kind.