Maverick Pant comes of age, turns into an all-round package

In the southpaw, India may have finally found that player with ‘Gilchristesque’ impact who can shred the best-laid plans of the opposition

Ever since Adam Gilchrist unintentionally ushered in the era of the outstanding wicketkeeper-batter who could nail down a place on his wicketkeeping or destructive batting alone, teams around the world have gone in search of men who could do the same.

India tried Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik and found considerable success with M.S. Dhoni. But even Dhoni’s Test-match record, especially away, didn’t quite keep up with his brilliance in limited-overs cricket.

If the past 15 months are any evidence, India may have finally found that player with ‘Gilchristesque’ impact in Rishabh Pant.

In the current ICC World Test Championship cycle (2021-23), he has the most dismissals (35) and the most runs for a wicketkeeper (517).

In the recently concluded victorious Test-series against Sri Lanka, the 24-year-old won the player-of-the-series award — a rarest of rare thing for a designated wicketkeeper — on the back of some superlative batting and outstanding glovework.

Pant scored 185 runs from three innings at a strike-rate of 120.12 (career SR: 70.45), which included a match-turning 97-ball 96 in Mohali, and a 28-ball half-century in Bengaluru which was the fastest-ever by an Indian in Tests. He also effected eight dismissals on tracks that turned treacherously.

In his batting, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he reminds one of Virender Sehwag, the mere thought of whom would put teams on the defensive. A false shot lurks all the time, only to arrive after the best-laid plans of the opposition have been shredded to bits. Just ask Tim Paine of Brisbane 2021.