"He makes you fall in love with Test cricket" - Aakash Chopra says IND vs BAN 2024 Test series will be remembered for Rishabh Pant's comeback
Aakash Chopra has picked Rishabh Pant's comeback as one of the reasons for which the Test series between India and Bangladesh will be remembered. He noted that the dashing wicketkeeper-batter makes one fall in love with the traditional.
India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the second Test in Kanpur on Tuesday, October 1, to seal a 2-0 win in the two-match series. Pant, who starred with the bat in the first Test in Chennai, scored 9 off 11 deliveries in India's first innings in Kanpur before hitting the winning runs in the second essay.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the series will be remembered for India's continued domination at home, their historic win in Kanpur, and Jasprit Bumrah's bowling. He also chose Pant's comeback as another memorable event, elaborating (4:55):
"The fourth reason will be Rishabh Pant's comeback for the simple reason that a lot of time had passed. He makes you fall in love with Test cricket. He is that kind of a player. The way he plays, the way he finished the match, he hit a big shot and it was over."
The former India opener pointed out that the destructive batter showed different facets of his game in the first Test.
"When he comes to bat, everyone says that you should put the shutter down in the evening, let's play safe, and he says he can score 20 runs off 10 balls. Then he comes the next day and scores the first 50 runs off 88 balls, and then sixes one after the other," Chopra said.
Pant scored 39 runs off 52 deliveries in India's first innings in Chennai. He followed that up with a 128-ball 109 in the second essay, his sixth century in Tests.
"He is entertaining" - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's amusing words on the field
![Rishabh Pant asked Najmul Hossain Shanto to alter his field while batting in the Chennai Test. [P/C: BCCI]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/10/4e0d2-17278554255748-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Rishabh Pant is an entertainer both in front and behind the wickets.
"The sort of cricket he plays, the kind of shots he plays, and the entertaining stories he creates, asking the opposition captain to put a fielder where one wasn't there, or saying that you would get an lbw if the ball hits a particular batter on his helmet, he is entertaining. That is Rishabh Pant," he said.
The renowned commentator chose Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal's exploits with the bat, Akash Deep's bowling, and Ravindra Jadeja's all-round performance as the other reasons that made the series memorable.
"Then you can go to multiple reasons. One is Shubman Gill scored a century again and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored three half-centuries. The sort of rise Akash Deep has had, Jaddu reaching 300+ wickets, and the way he took three wickets in three overs in the second innings in Kanpur, and then in batting on the first day of the series," Chopra elaborated.
Jaiswal (189) and Gill (164) were the top two run-getters in the two-match series. While Akash Deep picked up five wickets at an impressive average of 20.40, Jadeja accounted for nine dismissals and contributed 94 runs in two innings.