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Rishabh Pant merges ice and fire, gives India great hope in World Cup year

Rishabh Pant has offered hope for India in an important year of ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Pant mixed caution and aggression in right mixture in the 3rd ODI against England to guide India to win. Read full story.

Rishabh Pant

Manchester, July 18: What makes Rishabh Pant so irresistible? We can trace several answers —uninhibited batting, those little boyish antics and chatter or all of it.

But there is another underlying reason. It is the element of possibility that Pant brings with him to the field makes him so compelling. Irrespective of his form or the game situation, Pant gives us that glimmer of hope of a turnaround as long as he is in the middle.

The 80s fans will remember Viv Richards and Kapil Dev for that quality, the 90s kids will vouch for Sachin Tendulkar and the millennials will roll out the names of Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist.

They are not the calculated chase masters like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or Michael Bevan, who build a crescendo of runs for one final rush. But they tear through the opposition like a rogue wave and Pant belongs to this line.

But during the third ODI between India and England at Old Trafford on Sunday (July 17), Pant fused the two schools of chase with felicity while making a two-faced 100. India will be happier for it because of the long-term benefits it offer.

Pant came to bat when India were 25 for 2, not an ideal situation for a batter of his style as the match and the series were on the line.

Pant needed to bat with caution as India were on the brink and there was some assistance in the pitch for the bowlers with the new ball. How long Pant could have chained his hunter’s instincts?

Refreshingly, Pant took a few overs to settle down, and let the England bowlers came down from the high of those early wickets. Pant broke the mould in that phase as there was no deliberate effort to force himself upon the bowlers.

Of course, there was that charge down the pitch against Moeen Ali and his innings could have snapped at that point had Jos Buttler managed a stumping.

The minor irritant apart, Pant was solid in the company of Hardik Pandya, who was the aggressor. In fact, Pandya’s 50 came off 43 balls and Pant took 71 balls to reach the mark.

But once past that point, Pant began to tick. The first sign came when he opened his stance and lashed Liam Livingstone over the extra cover for a four. And once the target went below the 100-run mark, Pant twisted the knife in.

England captain Jos Buttler surmised the danger of giving players like Pant another chance. “ If you give good players a chance they hurt you, half-chance with Pandya, along with the stumping (of Pant). We should have capitalised on it,” said Buttler in the post-match presentation.

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya

England tried desperate measures for a wicket as Pant got a move on. Craig Overton looked to bounce Pant but all it resulted was in two quality pull shots through mid-wicket and then one behind the square.

This was the Pant we knew — dominant, fearless and playing with the field and the bowlers. But it was not mindless aggression either.

Pant had a way to tame each bowler. David Willey has been one of England’s better bowlers in the series, and the pacer was dismantled brutally.

First, Pant muscled Willey over the cow corner with a slog-swept 6 off a length ball, and a couple of overs later hammered him for 5 fours in a row to take India past the target.

In a sense, it was a coming of age innings from Pant. His maiden ODI hundred holds a lot of promise, a batsman with deeper awareness of his batting and skills would pose that much more danger to the opposition.

Pant had delivered in Test cricket but now he seemed to have find a way to be equally effective in the white ball formats too. With two World Cups are on our way in the span of a year, India could not have asked for anything better.

Pant revealed that approach in the post-match presentation. “When I was in there, I was just focusing on one ball at a time. When a team is under pressure and you bat like that, that's what you aspire to do.

“I enjoy playing in England and will do whatever I can do to keep enjoying my cricket. Hopefully, I will remember my first ODI century for the rest of my life,” said Pant.

So will many of us!

Story first published: Monday, July 18, 2022, 11:02 [IST]
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