Barring two innings in the Duleep Trophy earlier this month, which included a breezy half-century, preceded by a concerning knock of a single digit, there was no way of judging Rishabh Pant’s form in the traditional format. There was always an apprehension of whether the wicketkeeper-batter, who last played a Test match in December 2022, before incurring a horrific car accident, would ever return to his formidable best in the format he surprisingly dominated the most. But the 26-year-old put all doubts to rest after smashing a stunning century, en route to a knock of 109, against Bangladesh in the opening Test match of the series in Chennai on Saturday.
Pant stood near the middle of the pitch with closed eyes. He looked up at the sky, raised his bat, and offered a silent prayer, perhaps, to the Lord above for returning life and cricket to him. He then embraced Shubman Gill, with whom he stitched a resilient 167-run stand, India’s second-highest for the fourth wicket in the second innings of a Test match.
With knock, Pant matched the legendary MS Dhoni for most centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter – six, with the left-hander matching the feat in only his 58th innings in the format, compared to the former captain, whose career comprised 144 innings.
Moreover, in almost one-third the number of knocks, Pant (2419 runs) as nearly half of Dhoni’s career runs (4876 @ 38.09), with a better average of 44.79. So does the numbers say Pant is a better wicketkeeper-batter than Dhoni?
‘The jury is out…’
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, in conversation with JioCinema, who reckoned that Pant has largely reminded him of the legendary Virender Sehwag, given his aggressive brand of cricket, is already “India’s greatest wicketkeeper-batter in Test cricket.”
He said: “Comebacks are more difficult than debuts, because you have seen it all. Also, people tend you judge you quicker. See, there was never a doubt about Pant, and he headed into Test cricket after winning the T20 World Cup trophy for India. The fact is that, for some strange reason, Test cricket is his strongest suit. He reminds me of Virender Sehwag. You feel that T20 cricket is where he should have dominated more, but his numbers are far better in Test cricket. The jury is out now – he is India’s greatest wicketkeeper-batter in Test cricket.”
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, speaking to ESPNCricinfo, admitted that he wasn’t surprised that Pant matched Dhoni’s century record given than contrasting batting position. While the left-hander has been India’s designated No. 5 batter in Tests, Dhoni batted at No. 7 or 8 for India during his career.
“Dhoni had more impact in white-ball cricket. In Test cricket, there was more of his need down the order. Pant is more a batter-keeper in Tests. So I’m not surprised that this happened. It had to happen at some point. Not to forget, he has quite a few knocks of 90s as well. Had he converted those to centuries, he would have da about 12 of them probably. He is a different class of player and in terms of batting, he is probably the best wicketkeeper in Test history,” he added.
However, veteran India cricketer Ajay Jadeja, speaking to JioCinema, speaking largely on Manjrekar’s line of thought, reckoned that they should not be compared to one another. He further reasoned that Dhoni was never as much important to the Indian team as Pant given that the then national side had the Fab Four/Five in their line-up.
He said: “There is no replacement for Pant. It is just unfortunate for Dhruv Jurel because he did everything in his potential. But Pant is a special player. See, we are comparing him to Dhoni in terms of numbers, but I will not do that. It’s chalk and cheese. Yes, he has matched Dhoni’s numbers, but this is different. I’m not saying he is better than him or not, but what he has, Dhoni probably never got that chance. When Dhoni came to Test cricket, the Indian team had four batting greats. So when they were around, they didn’t need much of Dhoni. But the ability that Pant has, no one in world cricket has that. It is better you enjoy his knocks, than analyse it.”
