India's playing XI from Rishabh Pant's T20I debut: Where are they now?
Rishabh Pant's first international appearance dates back to the third T20I between India and England in Bengaluru in 2017. With the series tied at 1-1, the hosts handed the swashbuckling wicketkeeper from Delhi a debut in the decider at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pant created ripples with his aggressive batsmanship at the ICC Under-19 World Cup the previous year. A consistent run of form for Delhi on the domestic circuit saw him catapulted to higher honors soon after.
Over time, Pant has gone on to establish himself as one of India's batting lynchpins across formats. While he has enjoyed most of his success in Test cricket, he remains one of the first names in the Indian XI across all three formats. It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest that Pant is arguably the most exhilarating cricketer on the planet today.
Pant's T20I debut turned out to be quite a fascinating duel with the series on the line. We look back at the Indian playing XI from that match and where they are at present.
Openers - Virat Kohli (c) and KL Rahul
Virat Kohli, in his first series as T20I skipper, chose to open the batting alongside KL Rahul, with Rohit Sharma out with an injury.
While Kohli was run out early in the innings for a mere two, Rahul scored 22 off 18 deliveries before being castled by Ben Stokes.
Kohli would go on to establish himself as one of the greatest batters the world has seen, apart from ending up as the most successful Indian Test captain. He no longer captains the national team or his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but remains a superstar in his own right.
Rahul has been elevated to vice-captaincy in the Indian setup, making his captaincy debut in South Africa earlier this year. He also captains the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL.
Middle order - Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh and Rishabh Pant
Suresh Raina batted at No. 3 and stroked his way to a fluent 45-ball 63, while a promoted MS Dhoni scored 56 off 36. Notably, this was the latter's first half-century in T20Is.
Both Raina and Dhoni retired together in 2020, but have treaded contrasting paths thereafter. Raina failed to fetch a bid at the IPL 2022 Auction and was seen in the commentary box while Dhoni continues to lead the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He also mentored India at the ICC T20 World Cup last year, but the team suffered a Super 12 exit.
RT If You Were Surprised To Know This Is MS #Dhoni's 1st Int'nal T20 Half-Century. Selfless Cricketer, Sacrificed Records For Team. #INDvENG https://t.co/fid5YFczBf
Yuvraj Singh clobbered a 10-ball 27 and went on to feature in the ICC Champions Trophy later that year. He was discarded from the setup soon after though and hung up his boots in 2019.
Debutant Rishabh Pant came out at No. 6 in the penultimate over and wasted no time, unleashing his trademark pick-up over long leg for his first boundary. Pant faced all three deliveries though and remained unbeaten on five, while he didn't get to keep wickets owing to Dhoni's presence.
All-rounder - Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya was the lone all-rounder in the Indian set-up, although the team had Yuvraj and Raina to fall back on with the ball. Hardik finished the innings with a brisk 4-ball 11 and sent down two overs for 17 runs.
It's hard to find a player in India with a package similar to that of Hardik. Despite grappling with injuries, he has made a comeback to the white ball setup and even captained the team to a 2-0 series win over Ireland. This, after he led the Gujarat Titans (GT) to glory in their debut IPL season.
Bowlers - Amit Mishra, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra
India fielded two leg-spinners in Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal, with both perfectly complementing each other. Mishra returned a tidy spell of 1/23 off four overs, while Chahal ripped through England's middle order and blew them away with a six-wicket haul. He took home both the 'Player of the Match' and the 'Player of the Series' honors.
The game turned out to be Mishra's last international appearance till date as he failed to fetch bids at the IPL 2022 Auction as well. Chahal, on the other hand, has established himself as the team's lead spinner across both white-ball formats and won the Purple Cap for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2022.
well done yuzi @yuzi_chahal @YUVSTRONG12 @imVkohli @msdhoni @mandeeps12The boy got the cake on his face 😜 well done yuzi @yuzi_chahal @YUVSTRONG12 @imVkohli @msdhoni @mandeeps12 https://t.co/a5bBd7h8LY
Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up the tail and scalped three wickets. He would go on to make it a habit and is quite easily the best all-format bowler today. Bumrah also captained India in the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Birmingham last month.
Ashish Nehra played one more international game post this series and received a farewell at his home ground in Delhi later that year. Since then, he has been seen in coaching roles in the IPL, most notably at the helm of GT's success earlier this year. He is also a popular presence in the commentary box.
Eventually, Rishabh Pant's debut proved memorable as the hosts wrapped up the series 2-1 with a 75-run victory.
Also read: 3 qualities of Rishabh Pant that make him a potential future Indian captain