Rishabh Pant: The Method Artist

RISHABH PANT HAS ALWAYS been a fantastic red-ball cricketer. By far the best wicketkeeper-batter that India has ever seen. With eight hun­dreds to his credit and more than half of them in SENA countries, Pant has now put all de­bates of who is the best to rest. And yet, he has a lot left in him. Maybe, that’s why it was good to see him not do the cartwheel after the sec­ond innings hundred at Leeds. Rather, he ges­tured to the dressing room and to the crowd that he’d do it the next time. It was one of those moments in the game when each one present had a smile on their face. Pant, by his acts, had won everyone over.

To think that just a year earlier this man wasn’t

even sure of walking again shows the enormi­ty of his achievements. At Leeds, he kept wick­ets for 182 overs and then scored back-to-back hundreds in the Test match, something that no Indian wicketkeeper has ever done.

Dinshaw Pardiwala, one of India’s best surgeons and one who operated on Rishabh, helped put things in context, “I am delight­ed that despite a life-threatening car accident, a complex and difficult knee reconstructive surgery, and a subsequent frustratingly long rehabilitation, Rishabh has reached a state where he has forgotten which knee was oper­ated upon. In a world where injuries can end careers, I am happy that the contributions of sports surgery and medical science have en­abled Rishabh to convert setbacks into suc­cess. Comeback stories are inspirational, and none beats that of Rishabh’s. Whether it’s his return to elite-level cricket after his knee sur­gery, or his phenomenal back-to-back hun­dreds following a challenging IPL season, he is a story of resilience and inspiration.”

In the middle of all his success at Leeds, he did miss a couple of catches. And anyone who has watched him train at Edgbaston will know that he did not take it lightly. Two days before the match, Rishabh was the only one training inside the ground when all his team­mates had left to do batting or bowling drills in the outside net area. Rishabh, with T Dilip for company, went close to the centre wicket and started a period of intense wicket-keeping drills with the tennis ball. Dilip was hitting the tennis balls at full force along the ground while Rishabh was staying low to catch each one of them. Thereafter, Dilip started to bounce the balls and Rishabh started to get up on time to hold on to the catches. Clearly, it was an attempt to make sure that the Leeds mistake where he let off Harry Brook of Jadeja isn’t repeated. It was only after he finished the high-intensity keeping drill that he padded up and went out to bat.

As he was going out past the Eric Hollies stand, a stand known for its fancy-dress par­ties and carnivals, he saw me standing there getting ready for my live show. I did not want to speak to him then for there was no way I’d want to disturb him when he was going out to bat. But the moment he saw me, he stopped and smiled. He thereafter asked the security to give way and walked up to me to have a word. I wasn’t surprised. I have known Rishabh for a decade now and he has always been one who has received my fullest support. After a warm hug, I congratulated him for the Leeds hundreds and all Rishabh did was look up to the sky. It was as if he was thanking the gods for being there for him. Thereafter, he start­ed speaking and the words left me pleasantly surprised. “The individual hundreds don’t re­ally matter unless we win the game. We had a chance and should have closed the game. We will do everything we can to level the series here in Birmingham,” he said. You could sense the restlessness and anticipation. You could sense Rishabh would just go out to the middle and bat at the earliest opportunity.

He hasn’t taken Leeds well, and rightly so. You don’t expect to lose after scoring back-to-back Test hundreds. Maybe, that’s why he needs a win here in Edgbaston. While it is not just in his hands, he knows that as vice captain and part of the leadership group, it is now his task as much to inspire the boys and get them in shape. The team can’t just give up after one defeat and in keeping spirits high, Rishabh has a major role to play.

At the end of the Leeds Test, I had done a show saying Rishabh’s second-innings hun­dred was invaluable. He held himself back and did all the hard yards. It was an innings of char­acter and perhaps one that wasn’t appreciat­ed as much as it should have been. The Indian loss meant the innings did not get its due. England, however, knows how dangerous Pant can be. They are aware that he is the X factor in the Indian line-up. In their interactions with the media, both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes singled out Pant as a factor. It is true that they threw everything at him, but he was unfazed. And that’s because of his game awareness, the lack of which had let him down in Australia.

Three things stood out about the Pant ef­fort in Leeds—the first has to be his supreme self-confidence. To go after Woakes, Carse and Tongue isn’t easy in these conditions. And yet, Pant did the job to perfection. It speaks vol­umes of his talent and self-confidence. The second was his constant self-admonishment and determination not to give up. This is what we have wanted to see in Pant, and now we see it happening. Finally, he continues to be dis­satisfied and is not bothered with individu­al milestones. For him, it is the team that mat­ters and as vice captain, that’s the leadership role all of us wanted to see in him.

This series could well be about Pant. About him making a statement and elevating him­self into the echelons of greats who have played the game. Establish himself as one of the best-ever wicketkeeper-batters to take guard. Pant certainly has the talent. Now, he also has the temperament. Each time he was speaking to himself, words that were caught on stump mike, it was proof how much he has changed. There is a method to his mad­ness and that’s the new Rishabh Pant. The IPL slump is now a thing of the past and this se­ries could well see Pant make a mark as India’s best red-ball batter.

HeadingleyIndia-EnglandIndian cricketRishabh Pantvice captainwicketkeeper