Never Stop Dreaming
Rajiv Bhuttan, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The five-day game is called Test cricket for a reason. Not only does it demand an enormous amount of skill, but perseverance is a prerequisite, and those incapable of dealing with and responding to adversity will quickly find themselves out the door.
Throughout the last few weeks, Rishabh Pant has shown he is more than able to fit that mold. Adversity came knocking before he ever stepped foot in the Test arena when he lost his dad aged only 19, but a little over a year later, he was making his debut for his country, having just turned 21.
Few make their way through a Test career, particularly one which begins so young, without losing their place in the team once or twice – even the great Don Bradman was dropped after his debut – and though his explosive talent with the bat was clear from day one, question marks have always surrounded Rishabh’s keeping.
Matt Dawson from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
That was a major reason he has found himself in and out of the team over the past 18 months, and come the first Test of the recently concluded series against Australia, he was on the outer.
Adversity again faced Rishabh when selectors instead opted for Wriddiman Saha, who, despite being an inferior batsman, is significantly better behind the stumps.
They flipped on that decision to sure up their batting line-up for the second Test after India was rolled for just 36 in the second innings of the first, but after Rishabh only managed 29 with the bat in that game and then dropped two chances in the first innings of the next that, dare we say it, Wriddiman would have taken, the heat was well and truly on the diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman.
But as Test cricket so often reminds us, a player’s true ability is more evident in times of adversity than in times of ease.
iMahesh, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Over the last Test and a half of one of the most memorable series in recent memory, Rishabh showed that he has that in spades.
With India needing to survive four sessions for a draw in the third Test, Rishabh turned the match on its head, putting together a swashbuckling 97 off just 118 balls to not only save the game for his team but almost gave them a chance to win it.
Come Day 4 of the deciding fourth Test, India was in an eerily similar position, this time needing 328 to win in a little over a day.
This time, Rishabh made 89, but unlike in the third Test, this innings was a matchwinner, and the man who was overlooked for the first Test was awarded the Man of the Match award in probably the biggest game of his career to date.
Not a bad way to respond to adversity, right?
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