"I turned to Rahul Dravid and asked 'Who is this kid?'" – Sam Billings recalls first impression of Rishabh Pant
After his performances in the Test series against Australia and England, Rishabh Pant has become the talk of the town. The 23-year-old finally seems to have come of age and has been doing a great job with the bat and behind the stumps.
However, back in 2017, when Sam Billings said that Rishabh Pant would replace MS Dhoni post the latter’s retirement, he received a lot of flak online. Ahead of the limited-overs series between India and England, Billings recalled his first impression of Rishabh Pant.
He said he remembers expressing astonishment to Rahul Dravid after watching Rishabh Pant smash some of the best bowlers in the nets. Back then, Dravid was the mentor of Delhi Daredevils.
"With Pant, I played with him for 2 years when I was in Delhi. I turned to Rahul Dravid and asked 'who is this kid?' He was smacking Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Morris, Rabada everywhere in the open net," Sam Billings said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo.
In 2017, Rishabh Pant scored 366 runs in 14 games at an average of 26 and a strike rate of 166. He followed the season up with a much-improved performance in 2018, scoring 684 runs in 14 games. Pant averaged 53 and had a strike rate of 174 that year.
"I was just thinking 'this is unbelievable!' and that year he lit up. It’s been great to see him evolve as a cricketer and to be in the same team as him again would be great,” Billings added.
Sam Billings returns to Delhi for IPL 2021
After being released by the Delhi Capitals (DC), Sam Billings was with the Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and 2019. The Chennai-based franchise released him ahead of the IPL 2020 auction.
Billings will now return to Delhi Capitals for IPL 2021. He was acquired at his base price of INR 2 crore during the IPL auction earlier this year.