Cricket in India is a festival celebrated in every nook and corner of the nation. It is the only sport in India which has this huge fan following. Everyone has a fan base, from Captain cool MS Dhoni to former Indian Men’s cricket team skipper Virat Kohli.
One such famous Indian Cricketer is the young and dynamic Rishabh Pant. This 25-year-old middle-order wicketkeeper and left-handed battsmen have been playing the game for quite a few years now. Lately, he was in the headlines for his 125 unbeaten innings for 113 balls in the three-match ODI series against England.
Let’s know more about this young all-rounder cricketer:
Early life
Rishabh Rajendra Pant was born on October 4, 1997, to Rajendra Pant and Saroj Pant. He belongs to Haridwar, Uttrakhand. At the age of twelve, he took training under Tarak Sinha at the Sonnet Cricket Academy in Delhi. He played Under-13 and Under-15 for Rajasthan and Under-19 for Delhi during his teen years.
A career in domestic cricket
- Debuted in Domestic cricket in first-class with Ranji Trophy (2015-16) and List A with Vijay Hazare Trophy (2015-16)
- In the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he scored a triple century in a single innings in first class
- In 2016, Scored the fastest century off 48 balls in the Ranji Trophy against Jharkhand
- In 2017, he became captain of Delhi’s team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
- In 2018, he scored his second-fastest century off 32 balls for the 2017-18 Zonal T20 League against Himachal Pradesh.
Rishabh Pant in Indian Premier League
- Bought by Delhi Daredevils in 2016 and made them win a match against Gujarat Lions by scoring 69 runs off 40 balls
- In 2017, scored 97 runs off 43 balls against Gujarat Lions
- Next year, scored unbeaten 128 runs off 63 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad
- In 2021, he was made the captain of the Delhi Capitals and was retained in the same position for this year’s IPL season.
A career in International Cricket
- He made his T20I debut in 2017 in a match against England.
- In 2018, he made his debut in Test cricket against England.
- The same year, he debuted in One Day International (ODI) against West Indies.
- During 2019 and 2020, he saw a downfall in his career as he was unable to show his best game.
- In 2021, Pant made a comeback with Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 and scored 97 runs off 118 balls, saving India from losing the match.
- In March 2022, he broke Kapil Dev’s record of scoring the fastest half-century in a Test match by scoring 50 runs off 28 balls.
- In May 2022, he became Vice-captain of India for the South Africa tour of the India 2022 series. Later, he became the Captain when KL Rahul got injured
- Lately, he scored his maiden century in the final match of Indis’s tour of England, scoring an unbeaten 125 runs.
Teams Played by Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant has been a part of the following teams
- Team India
- Asia XI
- India A
- Indian Board Presidents XI
- India Red
- India Blue
- Leicestershire
- North Zone
- Delhi Capitals
- India Under-19
- Delhi
- Indians
Records of Rishabh Pant
Within its short cricket career until now, Rishabh Pant has made the following records:
- He has made Most dismissals in a series. He made 39 dismissals in ten matches in ICC World Test Championship, 2021-2023.
- He also holds the record for Most catches in a match. He took 11 catches in a test match against Australia on December 6, 2018, in Adelaide’s ground.
- Pant has also made the record for the Most runs in a series by a wicketkeeper. In ICC World Test Championship, 2021-2023, he scored 720 runs in ten matches. His highest score in the series is 146 runs, scoring two centuries and four half-centuries.
- Rishabh has also crossed the mark of 300 runs and 15 wicketkeeping dismissals in a series in his career.
Rishabh Pant’s ICC Rankings
- Pant has been ranked at No. 5 in Test Cricket with 801 ratings.
- He is at No. 52 in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with 521 ratings.
- In T20 cricket, Rishabh Pant is at No. 71 with 411 ratings.
