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8 long years! What happened when Rishabh Pant captained last time in first-class cricket?

Arnav Chopra

Rishabh Pant (Source: @BCCI/X.com)Rishabh Pant (Source: @BCCI/X.com)

India’s swashbuckling left-handed, middle-order, wicket-keeping batter, Rishabh Pant, is set to return from an injury, and in preparation for the upcoming South African Test series, Pant has been asked to lead the India A side during the series against South Africa A. Interestingly, for those who don't know, Pant last captained any red-ball side in 2017 when he played the Ranji Trophy final for Delhi against Vidarbha as the skipper.

Pant last captained Delhi in the Ranji Trophy 2017-18

After suffering a serious injury against England in the fourth Test in July, when a ball delivered by Chris Woakes broke his foot, Rishabh Pant has been out of action since. To facilitate his return to top-tier international cricket, where India A will play South Africa A in a two-match unofficial Test series at home before the official series, for which the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has announced the India A squad, where Pant has been asked to lead the side as he marks his return from injury.

Interestingly, for those who don’t know, Pant has not led any side in red-ball cricket in the past eight years. Incidentally, the last time he ever led a red-ball side was Delhi against Vidarbha in the all-important 2017–2018 Ranji Trophy final in Indore.

How did Pant fare as a batter and captain in that game?

In this game, after winning the toss, the Vidarbha side put Delhi into bat, who could only manage 295 runs after the conclusion of the first innings, where skipper Rishabh Pant only scored 21.

Dhruv Shorey turned out to be the hero for Delhi, scoring a magnificent 145, backed by Himmat Singh's 66. Rajneesh Gurbani picked up a six-wicket haul in this innings, while Delhi could not get past the 300-run mark.

Following this, Vidarbha mounted to a mammoth total of 547, backed by Akshay Wadkar's 133, with numerous other 50-plus scores, along with captain Faiz Fazal's 67. Navdeep Saini was the chief wicket-taker for Delhi in this innings, grabbing a five-wicket haul.

Trailing by a huge margin, Delhi was out to put a gigantic total on the board, hoping to challenge Vidarbha in the fourth innings, which unfortunately did not happen, as they folded for 280. In this innings, Pant could only better his first innings score, scoring 32 off 36 deliveries, while Delhi set a target of 32 runs in front of Vidarbha in the final innings.

In reply, Vidarbha took only five overs, completing the chase with ease and having nine wickets to spare, lifting the Ranji Trophy title in the 2017–2018 edition, against Delhi in the final. The bulk of the responsibility lay on skipper Rishabh Pant, who failed massively in this encounter, scoring just 53 runs in the entire game, where Delhi couldn't cross the 300-run mark even once in both innings.

For Pant, he led Delhi in that season on five occasions, winning two, losing one, while two of the games ended without a result. Following this game, he never captained any red-ball side in first-class cricket, which is why the upcoming South Africa A series, set to begin on the 30th of October with two unofficial Tests, will be his first venture after this forgettable Ranji Trophy finale.