WTC Final: "Rishabh Pant has made us love Test cricket" - Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan has said that Rishabh Pant's belligerent batting has made everyone fall in love with the longest format of the game.
Rishabh Pant played a few match-defining knocks to help Team India qualify for the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final. The swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman will hope to continue in the same vein in the title decider as well.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan lauded Rishabh Pant for drawing everyone's attention towards Test cricket, saying:
"Rishabh Pant has made us love Test cricket. If we say that, not many people will deny it. Because he has played in a fearless fashion. He does the work that Gilchrist used to do, coming in at no. 7 and changing the course of the game."
The former India all-rounder highlighted that Rishabh Pant has gone through the grind before securing his place in the Indian team.
"He has made valuable runs and made the team win. This has not happened easily; the performance was not happening, the captain backed him. Wriddhiman Saha used to be the no. 1 wicketkeeper of the team, and to replace him and make his place, centuries in England and Australia. Outstanding cricketer," observed Pathan.
Rishabh Pant is the only Indian wicketkeeper to score a Test century in both England and Australia.
Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's strong comeback
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rishabh Pant was sidelined for the initial part of India's tour of Australia after an indifferent IPL 2020 campaign.
"He had a middling IPL in the UAE and was not in the white-ball team. He was not in the first Test as well because it was the pink ball that moves more, so it was important to play Wriddhiman Saha."
The former India opener observed that Rishabh Pant's short but sweet knock in the Boxing Day Test started tilting the balance in his favour.
"After that, when the team folds for 36, and Kohli and Shami have left, then Rishabh Pant is played to strengthen the batting a little, with Jadeja also playing. There he scored twenty-odd runs in the first innings, but it was crucial as it started to change the momentum."
While reflecting on Rishabh Pant's scintillating knocks in Sydney and Brisbane, Aakash Chopra lauded the 23-year-old for staging a fabulous comeback to the team.
"After that knock in Sydney and what he did at the Gabba, you have confidence in your abilities, but you have self-doubt also at times because of which you have seen the change in his game as well. If you are a 22-24 year-old kid, you will have ups and downs in life, and he has seen a lot at a young age. He has bounced back very strongly from it."
Rishabh Pant's 97-run knock in the Sydney Test raised the prospect of an unlikely India win before they had to settle for a draw. However, the left-hander was not to be denied in Brisbane, as he took India to a series-clinching win with an attacking unbeaten innings of 89.