The entire cricket world has witnessed the rise of Indian star wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant. In the bare minimum time Pant has become an integral part of Indian side with the kind of skillsets he brings on the field. Considering this, veteran Dinesh Karthik has made a big statement when he drew parallel between Pant and former India captain MS Dhoni and said that the 24-year-old will be one of fines wicketkeepers India has ever produced.
Karthik was effusive in praising Pant and said: “Rishabh Pant is undoubtedly on his road to stardom. Unless he has a comprehensive wicketkeeping career for India, I reckon he may join MS Dhoni as one of the greats. These two will go down as a legend as two of India’s best wicketkeepers.”
Pant smashed the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter on Sunday (March 13) as he completed his half-century in mere 28 deliveries on the second day of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. With India having bowled Sri Lanka out for 109 early in the day's play, the hosts extended their 143-run first innings lead with some quick scoring in their second innings. It was Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 5, who took charge of the innings and attacked the visiting bowlers to help consolidate India's control with his 31-ball 50.
Pant's blitzkrieg knock saw him break Kapil Dev's 40-year-old record as he became the Indian batter to score fastest Test half-century. The knock also made him the wicketkeeper-batter to score the fastest fifty in Tests, breaking MS Dhoni's record of 34 balls.
“Rishabh Pant does have the confidence to try new things and succeed every time. He also reminds me of Virender Sehwag in that whenever the field is open, he has the ability to attack boundaries with ease straight away, which makes him a remarkable Test player. In many regards, Test cricket is a boundary-hitting format to him.”
Pant has five Test dismissals in the 90s. If he starts converting those into large hundreds, the 24-year-future old’s statistics might even be terrifying.
Meanwhile, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan then made a huge prediction saying that Pant will end his career as the highest scoring Indian wicketkeeper-batter. The record is presently held by Dhoni, who had ended his career with 4876 runs in 90 Tests. Pant is presently fourth on the list with 1920 runs in just 30 Tests.
"He is just a 24-year-old boy, and at such a young age, so much improvement has been seen in his cricket. I believe by the time he finishes his cricket career, there is still a long way to go, you will see him play 10 years of international cricket for sure, he will become India's highest run-scoring wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, I have no doubt about that," he said.
