The Indian fans have been missing Rishabh Pant as he hasn’t been playing for the country since his earth-shattering 159* in the final Test against Australia in Sydney last month. He has been a sensational success in the longer format was replaced by the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni for the ODIs against Australia and New Zealand that followed. Pant played for India ‘A’ against England Lions at home meanwhile and now he is back to represent the country on the international stage.
Pant, who played for India in the three T20Is against Australia last November after replacing Dhoni, has reached New Zealand for the T20I series starting in Wellington on Wednesday. He will be seen playing as a specialist batsman and he was seen practicing in full flow at the nets on the eve of the first match. The Delhi cricketer made his international debut in the T20I format against England in 2017 but has played in only 10 matches so far with one half-century under his belt.
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Rishabh was seen playing some improvised shots in the nets and the left-hand batsman executed one switch-hit kind of shot against a fast bowler by going way out to his off. A video of the shot was shared by the BCCI on Twitter. The former India skipper Bishan Singh Bedi, a representative of the traditional days in the game, was clearly stunned. “Bloody horrendous,” was his reaction to Pant’s unique reverse sweep.
Welcome to the T20 format. What would you call this shot from @RishabPant777 🤔😱 #TeamIndia #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/R5QTJNFtQI
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 5, 2019
Bloody horrendous..!!
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) February 5, 2019
In Test cricket, Pant has already amassed 696 runs in nine matches at an average of almost 50. He scored a century in his debut Test series in England last year and after scoring a couple of the 90s, came out with the scintillating unbeaten knock of 159 – the second highest score for any foreign wicket-keeper on the Australian soil. He finished as the second-highest scorer from either side after the man of the series Cheteshwar Pujara.
