Rishabh Pant marks return to Test cricket with blistering hundred, cricket fraternity hails it as ‘all time great innings’

Rishabh Pant scored a 124-ball century on Day three of the first Test between India and Bangladesh in Chennai on Saturday, thus marking a successful return to Test cricket after two years. Pant hit 13 fours and four sixes during his knock. Pant was eventually dismissed for 109 by spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 56th over.

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India vs Bangladesh, 1st Test Day 3 in Chennai

India declared their innings at 287/4 with Shubman Gill (119*) and KL Rahul (22*) unbeaten. This meant Bangladesh were set a target of 515 to win.

Rishabh Pant’s successful return to Test cricket

Prior to this, Rishabh Pant had played a Test match for India in December 2022, which was also against Bangladesh, in Mirpur. In that match, Pant had scored 93 in the first innings and nine runs in the second innings, as India won by three wickets.

Just a few days after that Test, on 30 December 2022, Pant sustained multiple injuries in a car accident, after his Mercedes car collided with a divider on the Delhi-Dehradun Highway. He eventually underwent several surgeries and missed out on playing cricket entirely in 2023.

The 26 year-old underwent extensive rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and in March this year, the BCCI declared him fit for playing as a wicketkeeper-batter in IPL 2024, where he returned to captain Delhi Capitals (DC).

The southpaw has played 33 Tests for India so far and has scored 2271 runs from 56 innings, with six centuries and 11 fifties to his name.

The Uttarakhand-born cricketer earned plaudits from the cricket fraternity following his century. Here are a few reactions:

The man who will make you fall in love with Test cricket again.
The man who will entertain and ensure that there’s never a dull moment when he’s batting.
Rishabh Pant is back. Back to where he belongs. Owning the 22 yards the way only he can. Well deserved 100. 👏👏 #IndvBan

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 21, 2024

Rishabh Pant will turn 27 next month…over the next decade or so he has all the tools to become an all time great. The building blocks are already in place. He is a generational talent.#INDvBAN

— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) September 21, 2024

6️⃣3️⃣2️⃣ days of waiting… 🥹

Every second was worth it, Pant! 🔥#RishabhPant #INDvBAN #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/JZTwr2Za43

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) September 21, 2024

𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩.

634 days since his last Test match, Rishabh Pant’s back and owning the crease again! 🧿

💯 No. 6️⃣ for our very own Spider Man! 🔥#PlayBold #TeamIndia #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/JgPPA0dWAS

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) September 21, 2024

We know stats don’t tell the full story. So…
Pant in his 33 Tests has 11 fifties & 5 hundreds. Average 43. But his 11 fifties include 6 nineties!
& one 89* which is an all time great innings! #IncrediblePant

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 21, 2024

WELCOME BACK TO TEST CRICKET, RISHABH PANT! 🙌🏻💯#RishabhPant #INDvBAN #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/C4gJuv29Y1

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) September 21, 2024

Shubman Gill also scores a ton

Just moments after Rishabh Pant’s century, India opener Shubman Gill registered his century as well. Gill got to his century off 161 deliveries, hitting nine fours and three sixes. Gill’s hundred comes as a relief for the 25 year-old himself, after he was dismissed for an eight-ball duck in the first innings.

The Punjab cricketer made a cautious start to his second innings, Gill gradually found his rhythm as he punished Mehidy Hasan Miraz for two sixes in the 30th over, the second of which brought up his fifty. Gill and Pant changed gears from then on, with the duo forging 167 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter was dismissed.