We all know that Rishabh Pant does things in his own unique way. A maverick, we’ve often labelled him.
The walk across towards off stump to paddle a cricket ball hurled at him over fine leg, often resulting in Pant lying flat on his rear end, chuckling at himself. A somersault at Headingley to celebrate a Test century. A reverse-sweep to Chris Woakes during that same series which ended his tour and sent him home for rehab, but not before Pant came out to bat with a fractured foot and dazzled the fans once again – even swatting Jofra Archer for six, while in excruciating pain.
These are all inherently Rishabh Pant things. Really, nobody else does this on a cricket field. Not least during Test matches. Which is why, as manic and infuriating as Pant can be when such bravado fails him, he remains irresistible to watch. Most strikingly in his favourite format, Test cricket.
Which is why his return to international cricket, for the second time following a serious injury, has people waiting. Pant will slot back as India’s number one Test wicketkeeper from the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens tomorrow, having recently proved his match fitness in two unofficial Tests between India A and South Africa A.
He is no stranger to comebacks. Pant was given a second chance at cricket after the horrific life-threatening car crash in December 2022. He returned for IPL 2024 and was soon jettisoned back into India’s T20I squad for the World Cup. In his comeback Test later that year, nearly 700 days from his previous one, Pant scored a century off 124 deliveries. Two Tests later, he was bowled on 99 to make it seven dismissals in the nineties.
In a sense, Pant is living on borrowed time. A remarkable return after the car crash was followed by the aforementioned fractured foot this summer, which sent him back to the BCCI’s Centre for Excellence for further rehabilitation. He missed the fifth Test in England, the T20 Asia Cup, two Tests at home versus West Indies, and India’s recent tour of Australia.
He is 28, not getting younger. Being a wicketkeeper is tough enough on the body – have you ever counted how many squats they do during a five-day Test match – and here is someone who has had to will his body to return to cricket after two serious injuries.
You look at Pant and wonder: if he gets injured again, will the recovery be as straightforward?
This is not to suggest that Pant should curb his enthusiasm. This is a trait that has endeared him to a wide fan base, and which has him on track to end his career as India’s GOAT in Test cricket, when it comes to wicketkeeping. He recently scored two fifties in four innings for India A, the second coming after another injury scare after he copped multiple body blows from South Africa A’s pacers – but still found time for the reverse paddled six. Pant is ready for Test cricket, alright.
South Africa will pose a stiff challenge to India, with three spinners, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen. Pant thus slots back in as a vital cog in the middle order, ahead of the versatile allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel, who looks set to retain his place as a specialist batsman on form. You need such cricketers in the middle, the ones who take pressure off their batting partners and can shift a Test match in a situation. Adam Gilchrist had that quality, and so does Pant, even if his approach often leaves Indian cricket fans enraged.
So, let’s applaud Pant for this latest comeback, and hope that he picks up from where he left off in England (he crossed 50 in all four Tests he played). He is a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer, destined to rewrite the history books of Indian Test cricket with his batting and wicketkeeping. Yes, he will infuriate more than not, but as we’ve seen with Pant when it all comes off, the fun is something else altogether. Welcome back, RP17.
