Rishabh Pant, who made his return in white-ball format in the T20 World Cup this year, will play his first Test after almost two years following the horrific car crash that ruled him out of the entire 2023 season.
The star wicketkeeper-batter returned to India squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, scheduled to be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 19.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes Rishabh Pant is on course to become an all-time great in Test cricket but at the same time, the southpaw needs to raise his game in the shorter formats.
“I consider Rishabh Pant one of India’s best Test batsmen. I’m not surprised that he’s back in the side, and he will continue to play for India in Tests,” Ganguly was quoted as sayig by PTI during at a promotional event in Kolkata.
“He will be an all-time great in Tests if he keeps performing like this. For me, he needs to get better in the shorter formats. With the talent he has, I’m sure with time, he will become one of the best.”
Having played in the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur from December 22-25, 2022, Pant had met a road accident a few days later on December 30 and made his return to top flight cricket only in IPL this year.
The 26-year-old swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter returned to the national side in their title-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup.
Pant was recently seen in red-ball action in the Duleep trophy, scoring a fifty in the second innings as India B went on to defeat India A by 70 runs. Pant was tidy behind the wicket as he dispelled any lingering doubt about the first-choice wicketkeeper batter for the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.
