CHENNAI: On the evidence of the Indian Premier League's first month, Rishabh Pant will be on the flight when India departs for the T20 World Cup late next month. The wicketkeeper-batter, who survived a horrific car crash before undertaking a painstaking rehab spanning the entirety of 2023, has lost none of his mojo, be it behind the stumps or in front.
If the first eight matches were a glimpse of Pant from 2022 and beyond, his ninth, against Gujarat Titans, was the full-length film. It was the Pant vast swathes of the cricketing public had fallen in love with. It was the Pant whose devil-may-care strokeplay had brought with it a sense of hedonism that grated some of the purists. It was, in short, liquid Pant. Deja vu and jamais vu at the same time.
He played some of his greatest hits as the visiting bowlers wilted in the face of a thrilling late assault. In the end, he finished with a 43-ball 88 to help Delhi finish with 224, which in turn proved enough as Titans could manage only 220/8 falling short by four runs.
The two important things, power-hitting coaches always say, is the base and balance of the batter. Pant has never believed in that but he elevated that to art on Wednesday. You wouldn't find it in any coaching manual but you don't need to. Pant is an outlier as far as power-hitting goes and he once again showed why; it's all about the hands, a swivel of the hips and the extension of the hands to reach out to wide deliveries outside the off stump before somehow generating enough power to access areas in front as well as behind square on the off-side. There was even the off-balance, falling over shot for four.
It wasn't just that Pant finished with a S/R of 204 that would have pleased the Indian management. What would have pleased them is the way he made them. He stuck it out at the beginning as the hosts were in an icky spot even before the end of the powerplay.
So, he had to bide his time while Axar Patel, who had earned a promotion, looked to be the aggressor. His first 12 runs came off 10 balls before he opened up ever so slightly against Noor Ahmad as he clattered a slog sweep over cow corner.
Twelve off 10 became 34 off 26; on a decent surface with lots of resources left in the bank, it was time for the skipper to explode to convert this start. It meant Mohit Sharma's third over — the start of the last five overs — was identified to turn the screws. He greeted the opening ball with a powerful hit over deep widwicket. Off the fifth ball, Pant's displayed his power again as he scooped a full length, slower ball over long off.
A flick had been switched. With Tristan Stubbs going big against Sai Kishore, the 26-year-old reserved the best for the last. His sequence went 2, 6, 4, 6, 6, 6 as he found boundaries all round the wicket.
As a massive point of difference — a southpaw who keeps wickets while batting in the second phase of the innings — he was always going to be on the flight as long as he had proved his fitness. With three fifties in nine innings and in fine boundary-hitting form, he has done just that.
Matches 9
Runs 342 (3rd highest)
S/R 161.32
4s 27
6s 21 (5th best)