Rishabh Pant: A Major Asset For Team India In Whites

Flamboyant India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is busy piling up runs and records in the extreme conditions of England. He continued his impressive run of form with the bat in the ongoing one-off Test match against England as he whacked his third consecutive fifty-plus score in the series and added another feather to his cap. 

The 24-year-old batter, on Monday, became the first India wicket-keeper batter to score 200-plus Test runs for India in overseas conditions in a single match.

No other Indian wicket-keeper batter has achieved this milestone in their career, making this feat all the more remarkable and memorable. 

The star batter, who is enjoying a dream run in Test cricket, bludgeoned an 86-ball 57 in the 2nd inning, taking his overall run tally to 203 runs in the ongoing historic Test against the Ben Stokes-led side.

Earlier, the left-hander played a blitzkrieg knock of 111-ball 146 in the first innings to put the English bowlers on the backfoot. Pant, who has recently faced criticism for his struggles in white-ball cricket, continued his preeminence in the red-ball format.

The Southpaw has so far played 31 Tests, in which he has amassed 2123 runs at an average of 43.33. He also has five centuries to his name in the longest format of the game, and out of those five, four have been registered in Tests outside Asia – two in England and one each in Australia and South Africa. Impressive eh?  

Well, impressive enough to endorse him as India's go-to man at number 5. The left-hander batter also provides a different dimension to the team, something the team has been missing for the last few years. 

With his attacking approach and awe-inspiring efforts, Pant became a must-have batter for India in overseas conditions. His knack for scoring runs briskly makes him stand out from others. 

Pant generally plays an aggressive brand of cricket by taking on both the pacers and spinners equally and putting the opponent and bowlers under pressure. 

Pant brings a sense of calm amid the chaos with his calculative madness. He puts the bowler under pressure with his positive approach, which is not only restricted to playing high-risk shots. 

One of Pant's biggest qualities – and we saw that to the hilt in this Test match – is he knows how to balance his reverse-laps and the audacious shimmy down the track with textbook drives, punches, and the balanced pull shot, which he added to his armoury in recent times. 

With the 24-year-old in the middle, the rest of the batting order can bat around him and spend some time on the crease to get used to the batting conditions. 

All in all, the left-handed wicket-keeper batter is a major asset for the Indian team in Test cricket, who can take games away from the opposition in a very short time. 

With age and momentum on his side, firing on all cylinders, he will undoubtedly become an indispensable asset for team India in the upcoming years.