Rishabh Pant celebrates after scoring his century against Bangladesh.© AFP
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali compared the dynamic wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant to India's iconic opener, Virender Sehwag. After being involved in a life-threatening accident in December 2022, Pant's return to Test format for India has begun on a breathtaking note. After his promising knock ended on 39 in the first inning, he dug deep and raised his bat to celebrate his splendid century in Chennai in the opening Test against Bangladesh.
Basit drew comparisons between Pant and Sehwag after witnessing the southpaw's blitzkrieg against Bangladesh. He pointed out that both batters used attack as a way of defence in the longest format of cricket.
"There are two batters in India. The second is Rishabh Pant. The first one was Virender Sehwag, whose defence was attacking. He used to go after the boundary on the first ball. Rishabh Pant came, whose defence is attack. He plays shots and plays well against Bangladesh. He won hearts," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
On Day 3, Pant heavily relied on his aggressive strokeplay to pile up runs on the board on the benign surface of the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
With Shubman Gill on the other side, the duo forged a 167-run partnership, which propelled India to a mammoth target of 515 runs.
When Pant ran a double and started celebrating his century, India stalwart Virat Kohli stood on his feet and applauded him for his remarkable feat.
Pant forged his 109-run knock by mixing up his front-foot and backfoot play. To deal with the spinners, he mostly relied on his backfoot game, bought himself time, and picked the gaps according to his ease.
On a couple of occasions, he came down the track with aggression and used the surface to his advantage. In the 53rd over, he came down the track and struck a half-volley to clear the boundary rope off Shakib Al Hasan.
His impressive inning laced with 13 fours and four mouthwatering sixes was brought to an end by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. He cushioned it back to the Bangladesh spinner, which brought an end to his sensational display. He walked back with applause from the crowd and blew a kiss towards heaven.
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