Ahead of the Duleep Trophy, Team India`s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has started his preparations to make a red-ball comeback.
The young wicketkeeper-batter posted a video on Instagram of him practicing his classy drives, lofted hits and reverse sweeps/ramps in the nets. In his Instagram caption, Pant wrote, “I try not to have expectations because they can tend to tear you apart. I try to work as hard as I possibly can and give every ounce of a hundred percent & keep Learning from it. #RP17.”
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Rishabh Pant`s return to cricket
After suffering a horrific car accident in December 2022, Rishabh Pant made his comeback to competitive cricket during the Indian Premier League (IPL). He captained Delhi Capitals (DC). In the league, DC won seven matches and lost the same number of matches. With 14 points and having placed in sixth position, the Delhi-based franchise failed to qualify for the playoffs.
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Rishabh Pant accumulated 446 runs in 13 matches for DC with a strike rate of over 155. He smashed three half-centuries and finished the tournament as the franchise`s highest run-scorer.
In the T20 World Cup 2024, Rishabh Pant played a crucial role for the “Men in Blue”. With 171 runs in eight matches, he was the third-highest run-scorer for India. He played with an average of 24.42 and also contributed for the side while donning the “Big Gloves”. He registered 14 dismissals which is the most by any wicket-keeper in a single T20 World Cup.
His influential performances helped India end their 13-year-long ICC World Cup drought.
With the two-match Bangladesh Test series starting at home from September 19 onwards, all eyes will be on Pant`s performance in red-ball cricket during the Duleep Trophy, where he will be playing for India B. Pant is one of India`s key red-ball batters, having put on various match-turning performances, be it in wins or loss.
In 33 Tests since 2018, he has scored 2,271 runs at an average of 43.67, with a strike rate of over 73. In 56 innings, he has scored five centuries and 11 fifties, with his best score being 159*.
In particular, fans would be excited to see him play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia from November 22 onwards. Rishabh Pant has a fine record in Australia, scoring 624 runs in seven matches and 12 innings on Australian soil at an average of over 62, with a century and two half-centuries. His best score is unbeaten 159 runs.
Revised squads for Duleep Trophy first round:
India A: Shubman Gill (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.
India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk).
India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier.
India D: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar.
(With ANI Inputs)
