The young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant helped team India to storm Australia’s Gabba fortress in a record-breaking fashion by exhilarating a three-wicket win over Australia in the fourth and the final Test match to claim the series 2-1.
Champions ?#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/3DUysQ9rgd
— ICC (@ICC) January 19, 2021
Rishabh Pant led the chase with his aggressive and mature knock of an unbeaten 89 runs and sealed the series with a powerful four. During his knock, he proved his mettle as not just he tackled the dangerous Australian bowlers but he smashed them all across the Gabba. His knock was laced with a stunning six during his knock and 9 fours, including the winning boundary which helped team India win the game.
Time and again, Rishabh Pant has been compared with the legendary Indian keeper-batsman MS Dhoni. From being booed by the crowd on his mistakes behind the stumps to being applauded for his heroics, Indian cricket fans always find reasons to compare him with MS Dhoni.
Recently, Pant played down comparisons with MS Dhoni by saying that it’s unfair to compare a legend with a young cricketer. After arriving in New Delhi from Australia after the successful tour. Pant said:
“It feels amazing when you compare someone like MS Dhoni. It feels good for me to be compared with him. But I don’t want me to be compared with anyone. I want to make a name for myself in Indian cricket. That’s the only thing I am focussed on. Because it’s not too good to compare a legend with a youngster,”
Meanwhile, Pant moved to a career-best spot of 13 on ICC Test Batting Rankings after topping India’s batting charts in the 4-Test series with 274 runs in 3 matches. The 23-year-old cricketer is now the highest-ranked wicketkeeper-batsman on ICC Test ranking but Pant claimed that he is not focussed on the numbers. He said:
“I feel good but I didn’t know about the ranking. My only job is to win matches for India,”
Meanwhile, Pant’s heroics at the Gabba has earned him a place in the Indian squad for the first two tests against England, which will kickstart on February 5 in Chennai.