Rishabh Pant made an emotional comeback to Test cricket last week, as he smashed a stunning century in the opening game if the two-match series against Bangladesh in Chennai. It was Pant’s first appearance in the international format since December 2022, when he was sidelined following a horrific car accident. While the knock left the Indian cricket fraternity excited with the Rohit Sharma-led side awaiting a long Test season ahead, it has put his rivals on alert.
Pant has enjoyed his fair bit of rivalry with Nathan Lyon in their face-off in the Border-Gavaskar series. In Pant’s debut appearance in the contest, en route to India’s historic 2018/19 series win Down Under, he was dismissed four times by the off-spinner, while scoring 122 runs in 184 balls. In their second face-off, in the 2020/21 series in Australia, where Pant had scored the winning runs at Gabba to script history, the veteran Aussie bowler got the better of the left-handed batter just once. Pant scored 107 runs in 163 deliveries against the spinner, who is the highest wicket-taker in Border-Gavaskar Trophy history with 116 scalps.
Lyon, who supposedly witnessed Pant’s sensational knock of 109 in Chennai last week, admitted that the wicketkeeper-batter is an “electric player” and is up for the challenge of being hit for six. However, he assured that he does have a plan in place for the India star.
“You’re playing bowling against someone like Rishabh Pant, who is electric. He’s got all the skill in the world. As a bowler, your room for error is so small. So you’ve got to be good. It’s a challenge as a bowler if I’m going to get hit for six. I’m not afraid about getting hit for six. The challenge is that I can provide the batters and try and keep someone like Rishabh in his crease and potentially try and get him to defend me a lot more and hopefully bring a couple of chances along the way,” he said in a video shared by Star Sports.
‘We have got to try and keep him quiet’
Australia captain Pat Cummins also spoke about Pant and acknowledged that the 26-year-old had a “major influence” in India’s back-to-back Test series wins Down Under.
“He’s someone that has a big influence in a couple of series and we have got to try and keep him quiet,” Cummins said on Star Sports.
The Aussie fast bowler also opened on Pant’s unorthodox style of batting, which includes shorts like the reverse lap, and compared his approach to that of his teammates Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh.
“Someone like Rishabh Pant might play a reverse slap and it’s an incredible shot, and that’s just part of who he is. I think we’ve become a bit more accustomed. Every team has one or two of those players who can take the game on. You know, we’ve got Travis Head and Mitch Marsh and those guys. I think with those guys, you know that they’re going to be aggressive. If you miss your area a little bit, they’re going to take the game on,” he added.
