Rishabh Pant’s heroics in Gabba will be one of his finest Test innings, given the context of the match and the series. The dashing left-hander started the year with some great performances against Australia and England and averages nearly 40 in Test cricket in 2021. It’s the third-highest for anyone who has played more than 10 matches. Pant scored 515 runs in the first 10 innings of the year and managed only 233 runs in the next 11 innings. In this piece, we will have a look at his Test career and analyze his game plan till now and what lies ahead.
Understanding the conditions
Pant has always been seen as a player who is unsure of his game plan. Starting his Test career with a six down the ground and then playing an innings spanning 29 balls without scoring in the second match tells you why there is such a notion about the left-hander. Although, a batting average of 38.92 after 26 matches for a wicket-keeper is something a team will be satisfied with.
Pant has been able to formulate/recognize his game plan once he is in the latter half of a Test series or even the second half of a match. Being a wicket-keeper, he has been able to assess the pitch and also the opposition’s gameplan against him. Stats also tell the same story. His averages in the second half, be it the second innings or the second half of a Test series, have been much better.
In the first innings of his Test career, Pant managed 48 runs. In the fourth Test of the series (Pant’s second) he scored 0(29) in the first innings, getting out defending the ball, and 18(12) in the second innings getting out attacking the ball, both times to Moen Ali. In the last innings of the series, Pant scored his first Test century.
This pattern has been the same with the left-hander. In his first tour down under, Pant was consistently scoring 25-35 and managed 191 runs in six innings before scoring a mammoth 159-run innings in the fourth Test. Pant finishing the Gabba Test after getting out on 97 at Sydney is another example of him learning from his mistakes and getting better as the series progresses.
Rishabh Pant vs Quinton De Kock
Since Pant’s debut, statistically, Quinton de Kock is the only wicket-keeper who has better stats than him in terms of strike rate and average. Both players have a similar playing style. While Pant averages 38.8 after 26 tests, de Kock averaged 43.83 after the same number of games. Both the players after 26 Tests scored three Test centuries. Currently, the South African keeper has an average of 38.8 after 54 Tests, the same as Pant. De Kock’s average has dropped in the second half of his Test career, but as seen in other stats, making an inference that Pant’s average will increase as his career progresses, he may well end up averaging above 40.
Even in the current series vs South Africa, Pant managed only 8 runs in the first innings and then played a sensible knock of 34(34) to take India’s lead above 300 runs. He did the same in the third innings of the 4th Test match in England earlier this year by scoring a half-century in the second innings after a failure in the first.
Conclusion
A player like Pant is rare to find. You may have the talent, but to show belief in your game after some failures is a sign of a good temperament and a strong mindset. The batter has played some match-winning knocks in 2021 and followed it up with some sensible innings whenever needed. He nearly broke the record for the most runs by an Indian wicket-keeper in a calendar year. His 748 (2021) is second to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 749 (2010). Pant has also improved his wicket-keeping tremendously, and if he sticks to his game plan with the right temperament, the player will create new stats and records.