3 similarities between Rishabh Pant and Yuvraj Singh
India's World Cup-winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh yesterday (March 16) shared a picture of himself with Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who was involved in an accident in December.
Pant was involved in a car crash on the Delhi-Dehradun highway as his vehicle collided with a divider and caught fire. The southpaw had to undergo surgery to repair the injuries he had sustained from the accident.
Yuvraj met Pant and posted a picture with him captioned as:
"On to baby steps !!! This champion is going to rise again. Was good catching up and having a laugh what a guy positive and always funny!! More power to you."
Here, we look at three similarities between Yuvraj Singh and Rishabh Pant.
#1 Swashbuckling southpaws
Both Yuvraj Singh and Rishabh Pant are left-handed batters who are known for their swashbuckling batting. Yuvraj, back in his playing days, had a wide array of shots in his armory and was one of the most dangerous batters going around the scene. Pant's pyrotechnics are well known to the cricketing world and he is one of the most feared batters of today's times.
#2 Both lost significant time due to medical reasons
Yuvraj Singh was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 after India won the World Cup in which he was the player of the tournament. He underwent chemotherapy, made a successful recovery and then returned to cricket in 2012. He went on to represent India again and won the country a few games as well.
Rishabh Pant, much like Yuvraj, will be out of the game for an extended period. He has already missed an important Border-Gavaskar Series and will not be featuring in the Indian Premier League either.
A sportsman's career is not a very long one and as such no player wants to lose out on playing time. But this is the situation for Pant and we can only hope that he too, like Yuvi, makes a successful comeback into the Indian team.
#3 Both did well for India in U-19 World Cups
Yuvraj Singh played in ICC U-19 World Cup in 2000 and ended up as India's second-highest run-scorer, compiling 2023 runs at a strike rate of more than 100. He was named the player of the tournament as India went on to win the World Cup in Sri Lanka.
Much like Yuvraj, Rishabh Pant had a great run in the U-19 World Cup in 2016, as he ended up as India's highest run-scorer. He scored 267 runs at a healthy average of 44.50. Unfortunately, India lost the final to West Indies.