Rishabh Pant’s performances against Australia and England speak volumes of the talent he possesses. There are many who have changed their perception of Pant after seeing his much-improved batting and wicket-keeping, one man who has always backed him is Sourav Ganguly.
Having had the first-hand experience of working with Pant during his time at Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Ganguly had backed Pant’s talent time and again. After seeing Pant finally living up to the expectations, Ganguly rated the Delhi lad among the match-winners the Indian team has had, including the likes of MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.
“I have seen Pant very closely and I believe in match-winners. When they get going on their day, they single-handedly can win matches. Rishabh Pant is such a player,” Ganguly told India Today. “I have also said this in the past, had he stayed at the crease for 5 or 6 overs, India could have won the Sydney Test. He is a game-changer. I like match-winners. In my time, we had Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni.”
Pant’s stocks had fallen dramatically after the 2019 ICC World Cup. The 23-year-old had a tough 2020 when he was also dropped from India’s limited-overs squads and struggled to get into the XI in the Test team too.
Pant was snubbed for Wriddhiman Saha in the Test series opener against Australia at Adelaide but played in all three of the remaining matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His performances in the Sydney and the Brisbane Tests were central to India’s 2-1 series triumph Down Under.
Against England at home, Pant upped his performances even further and showed remarkable improvement, especially as a wicket-keeper. Many had doubted his abilities behind the stumps but Pant silenced his critics by producing near-flawless showings with the gloves.
