Mumbai: The void left by MS Dhoni’s retirement in Indian cricket lineup was quickly filled by Rishabh Pant, who embraced Test cricket like a “duck to water”, feels former head coach Rahul Dravid.
The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter, who returned after surviving a horrific car crash in December 2022, scored a match-winning 89 in the fourth Test at the Gabba and contributed 274 runs throughout the series, playing a key role in India’s historic 2-1 triumph in the 2020-21 tour.
“It’s hard to imagine that, after Dhoni left, you felt there might be some time for someone to come in and replace him,” Dravid told Star Sports.
“I’m not saying he’s replaced him, but certainly in Test cricket, his performances have been absolutely sensational, an incredible performance.”
“Watching Rishabh there and chasing to get 89 to win that Test match at the Gabba, with everything on the line and such a depleted side, to put in that kind of performance under that kind of pressure — truly sensational… What a special cricketer he’s been. He’s just taken to Test cricket like a duck to water. It’s just phenomenal.”
Pant’s heroics that included two fifties at 68.50 in five innings helped India become the first Asian side to win successive Test series wins Down Under.
In the ongoing five-Test series, the 27-year-old scored a vital 37 off 78 balls in the first innings of the Perth Test, including a remarkable six that lifted India’s spirits, helping them recover from 59/5 to 150 all out.
The Jasprit Bumrah-led team then bowled out Australia for 104 and won the match by 295 runs to take a 1-0 lead going into the Adelaide Test beginning on Friday.
While India have dominated Australia lately, Dravid’s knock of 233 during the Adelaide Test in 2003 still remains a fan-favourite.
Nostalgia and regrets
Reflecting on his knock, Dravid admitted that he still regrets not winning the series.
“I’m grateful for it, but I wouldn’t have voted for myself, put it that way. Probably, I’ve got a lot of recency bias as well,” he continued.
“I think the way India has performed in Australia over the last two series in particular — winning series there — that counts for a lot.
“However great my performances or India’s performances were, we couldn’t actually win that series. We came close, but we couldn’t get the wickets on the final day in Sydney that we needed.
“The last two teams that have gone to Australia have done that, and that’s a fantastic achievement — a terrific achievement — and there have been some absolutely sensational performances right through those.”
Dravid was joined by VVS Laxman when India were reeling at 85/4, especially after the hosts had posted a mammoth 556 in just a day and a half.
Ganguly run-out: My mistake
The 51-year-old reflected on the incident where he had accidentally run out his captain Sourav Ganguly and admitted it was his “mistake”.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ve got the captain run out. I better do something meaningful.’ It was totally my mistake getting Sourav (Ganguly) run out. I will own up to that one — it was my mistake.
“But, I think you’re just trying to bat, you’re just trying to build a partnership, you’re just trying to get to the target.
“The thing with Laxman and me is that we had batted together a couple of really big partnerships before that. We did it once in Kolkata in 2001 and even in a domestic game when we first played South Zone against West Zone.
“So, we had kind of batted a lot together and built this partnership. Not that we were thinking about that when we got out there, but I think the idea was really just to bat and try and build partnerships, stitch something together.”
“It’s always nice batting with Laxman as well… Because he’s just a beautiful player to watch and such a lovely player.
“He really attacked back, which, in some ways, complemented me quite well in how we went about our innings,” he recalled as Indian won the Adelaide Test by four wickets but the series ended in a 1-1 draw.
