In a short Test career, Rishabh Pant has managed to make a name for himself by playing scintillating knocks. But the 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has been unlucky not to have hundreds in the last three Test matches.
On Sunday, he missed out on a deserved century against the West Indies at Hyderabad. Resuming on his overnight score of 85, the Delhi cricketer got out after adding another seven runs.
This is the second time in two innings that he got out on 92, thus becoming the second Indian player to be dismissed in the 90s in successive innings after his mentor Rahul Dravid. Former India captain was dismissed for 92 and 93 in successive innings against Sri Lanka in 1997.
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After making his Test making in England at Nottingham in August this year, Pant has scored 346 runs in eight innings, at an average of 43.25 with one hundred and two fifties. It could have three hundreds, had he took extra caution in the so-called nervous 90's.
But the flambouyant cricketer is not one of the those who will drop anchor at the sight of a milestone.
His 346 runs are more than Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 297 runs after the legendary wicketkeeper's first five matches. Dhoni had 297 runs after five matches with a hundred (148 vs Pakistan) and one fifty.
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Batting great Sunil Gavaskar compared Pant to former Aussie wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
“At no.6 if you have somebody coming in like that...it is almost like Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist used to come in when Australia were in the doldrums with four wickets down and not too many runs on the board and he would hit a blazing hundred and take Australia to 350-400 and I think that is what Pant is capable of,” former India captain told India Today at the end of Day 2.
