Rishabh Pant produced a terrific century under pressure in Cape Town to give India a shot at victory by pulling the lead to 211. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 100 off 139 balls in India’s total of 198 in the second innings.
With that top drawer knock, Rishabh Pant became the first-ever Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century on South African soil; the next best is MS Dhoni with 90 in 2010. Also, now the 24-year-old left-hander is the only Indian wicket-keeper to raise a Test century in all of England, Australia, and South Africa.
Rishabh Pant came in to bat at a difficult time on Day 3, at the score of 58/4, when India was reeling by the early losses of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket. He joined hands with skipper Virat Kohli in a 94-run stand.
In the 94-run partnership with the skipper, Rishabh Pant scored 71 while 15 came from Kohli’s bat before the captain was dismissed. While the tailenders didn’t score many runs, they provided some resistance against the South African bowling as Pant trundled towards his century with South Africa putting fielders in the deep against the southpaw.
Notwithstanding the fragile situation India were in when he arrived at the crease, Pant didn’t shy away from unleashing his strokes. After taking a few boundaries against the pacers, Pant tore into left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, walloping the spinner for three maximums; Olivier was also thumped for a six over wide long-on.
Pant now has four Test tons to his name, three of which are outside India.
The youngster had been under fire coming into the third Test following his horror shot in the second. He had shown commendable patience in the first innings, and in the second as well, Pant played calculative shots without taking many risks for the most part of his stay.
Praises followed for the young batsman on his superb century. Social media was already flooded with amazing reactions from fans and experts. Among many, actress Saiyami Kher also joined the bandwagon lauding Pant.
She hailed the batsman’s temperament and ability to bat and score under immense pressure when others around him failed to.
“Hats off! What an incredible 100 @RishabhPant17 Under pressure to pull this off is just so commendable! Total Redemption. After all that was spoke about his batting,” 29-year-old Saiyami Kher tweeted on Pant’s fantastic knock.
Check out her tweet:
Hats off! What an incredible 100 @RishabhPant17 ?? Under pressure to pull this off is just so commendable! Total Redemption. After all that was spoke about his batting.
All upto our bowlers now! 212 in the 4th innings? What are the predictions?#SAvIND #pant
— Saiyami Kher (@SaiyamiKher) January 13, 2022
