Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant was oozing with confidence upon his return to the National side during the T20 World Cup warm-up against Bangladesh.
Rishabh Pant, who had endured a tragic and horrific car crash in late 2022, played his first match for the Men in Blue since 30th December 2022. His last match was in New Zealand during an ODI series after which he returned to India and while on his way back home, Pant ended up crashing his car in the worst possible manner.
The first images of that crash looked extremely chilling with many in utter shock as to how Rishabh Pant came out of it alive. Since the injuries were severe, Pant had no option but to go through a long recovery lay-off which saw him miss the entire 2023 calendar year.
Rishabh Pant made his competitive return through the 2024 IPL season where he captained the Delhi Capitals to a 6th spot finish in the table.
Rishabh Pant’s IPL 2024 season as it went
Many believed that Rishabh Pant would struggle to find his rhythm and find himself back when he returned to IPL 2024 action. Before the tournament, Pant had played a few exhibition practice matches but the Premier League was going to be different. He made his return during Delhi’s opening match against Punjab Kings and scored 18 off 13 balls.
Then slowly and steadily, Rishabh Pant started to find his form back and by the mid-way of the season, the left-hander became a World Cup probable. Along with Sanju Samson, Pant made it to the 15-man T20 WC squad with no place for KL Rahul in the side.
The best part about Rishabh Pant’s return was that he would shut off all the doubters with a 446-run season from 13 games at a 155.40 strike rate. He also made the news for his exceptional leadership skills as led the unbalanced Delhi Capitals side to 7 wins and 7 losses each. Given the situation from which he came back, Delhi would accept him all day.
DC’s Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly had even said that Rishabh Pant is slowly getting back to basics. And about his captaincy, Ganguly had admitted that Pant will experience a drastic improvement by next season. With IPL 2024 concluding last week, Pant’s main focus will now be to help the Indian team in what is going to be his 3rd T20 WC edition.
Pant’s no-look shot amazes fans
Obsessed with his No-look shot ! 🥵pic.twitter.com/DWvlC6CuwE
— 𝓱 ¹⁷ 🇮🇳 (@twitfrenzy_) June 1, 2024
On his return to the National side during the warm-up against Bangladesh yesterday, Rishabh Pant was the best batsman of the Indian team. He was the only batter in the entire game to score a half-century. Pant was taken off the field as a precautionary measure after scoring 53 off 32 which helped his side put 183 as the target.
But the best part about Pant’s innings was the trademark no-look flick shot. The bowler had pitched it in the middle with the fine leg up in the circle. Rishabh was well aware of it and so he flicked the ball over the circle fielder for a four. The shot truly depicts that Pant is back with a bang.
