Sydney: Indian middle-order, wicketkeeper, and batsman Rishabh Pant bared his off-the-shoulders batter, was indeed undeceived en route to the championship of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, which indeed was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Pant’s aggressive batting helped him to recover after the initial scare faced by his Indian team in the Sydney Test, where he scored a spectacular half-century in the second innings.
Pant, who was batting at the time when India had lost 3 wickets for just 59 runs, proved to be a true fireball with his innings of 61 runs off 33 balls that featured an astounding strike rate of 184.84. In his innings, he also smashed 6 boundaries and 4 sixes besides making the fifty off 29 balls, the second-fastest fifty in India’s Test history.
The special feat of the match was not just his fifty, as it also broke the record for the fastest fifty by a visiting player in Australia, which had been held by Roy Fredericks for many years. In the past, Pant had also registered the fastest fifty for India in Tests, hitting one in only 28 balls against Sri Lanka in 2022.
In this match, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja put on a valuable fifth-wicket partnership of 46 runs, which lifted India to a score of over 100, with Pant’s contribution being significant. His bold approach not only helped in returning the pressure to the Australians but also moved the discussions on his future role in the Indian team.
Before this match, Pant had difficulties in transforming good starts into complete nuggets all through the series. In five matches, he batted a total of nine innings and amassed 255 runs to his name, with this half-century being the only worth mentioning innings. He had also scored 40 runs in the first innings of the Sydney Test.
Pant’s performance brought back into the piquancy the views on his future position and role in the Indian team, as he keeps on mastering his skills in the international cricket field.
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