He comes down the pitch and when he connects the ball, which is usually a site to behold, then the cherry, whether white or red, disappears into the stands. He whips the all down the on side and over it goes into the stands. He plays the pull well, mighty well, truth be known. He isn’t afraid of taking on the spinners. He doesn’t care about how fast they pacers bowl. When half the Indian side was out injured, he kept up the tempo of runs and helped his side breach the Australians’ Gabba fortress.
A masterful unbeaten and winning knock, that carefully executed thud down the boundary off Hazlewood. And on the other hand, the site of Cheteshwar Pujara, with his dogged half-century! Things were amazing when Rishabh Pant and India’s noted- if not the most remarkable- number 3 joined hands Down Under.
The team soared north and the hosts, the incredibly unputdownable Australians slid down south.
But all wonder- where’s that Rishabh Pant gone? In the last three T20I innings, the blazing left handed keeper-batsman accumulated- not amassed- 33 runs and 33 alone!
Can you dig that?
The big shots aren’t anywhere to be found. The fifties haven’t been spotted. The match-winning cameos didn’t really occur. They were nowhere. All had a gala time, except they couldn’t help New Zealand win, but Southee, Sodhi, Boult, Ferguson all had a fine time in keeping the dangerous and very capricious Rishabh Pant quiet!
But now the onus is on Pant himself to hit back to form.
But meanwhile, the following is what Daniel Vettori had to say about the big-hitting left handed batter who many have described as brave and daring, of which there’s little doubt:
“Rishabh has been on the road with the Indian team for a couple of years non-stop. He has made himself available to play anything and everything without complaining. To be constantly in a bubble sap you. I am certain that also has an implication on the way he performs on the field. Maybe lack of clarity or mental fatigue, it could be just that as well. He is a high-class player and it’s a matter of time before he comes back and hits the ball the way we know he can. I think he deserves a bit of a break to just switch off from cricket,” exclaimed Robin Uthappa.
However, rather interestingly, the following were the remarks of the one and only Daniel Vettori, who’s worked with and observed Rishabh Pant closely and one could say, these are rather intriguing:
“I will be surprised if they (team management) don’t talk long and hard about what they expect from him. But the onus is on Pant to find that right tempo. The reality is, if he doesn’t, they can look elsewhere. They have Ishan Kishan and KL can keep wickets as well in T20. They will give Pant the opportunity to find his rhythm, knowing that they can change pretty quick as well,” said the famous New Zealand spinner.