Rishabh Pant’s smashing comeback to Test cricket for India. Out of action for nearly 15 months owing to numerous injuries resulting from a road accident, the 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman scored a century in the second innings of the first Test against Bangladesh, which was won by India by 280 runs in Chennai on Sunday (September 22). In this second inning, Pant faced a total of 280 balls and scored 109 runs off the bat, hitting 13 fours and four sixes.
During the third day’s play of the series opener at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Pant was even seen setting the field for the Bangladeshi team, and the video of it went viral on the internet.
Through his stump microphone, he was recorded saying, “There is one fielder here,” while pointing in the direction of mid-wicket. This made Bangladesh’s captain Nazmul Hossain put one of his teammates there too.
Sunday saw Bangladesh lose against India before Pant was subjected to questioning by former Indian cricketer Saba Karim about why he acted in a controversial way on the ground. The Indian wicketkeeper replied that he was just trying to assist the visitors with their field placements because he believed it made for a more competitive game.
“Why did you set the field for him when Taskin Ahmed came up to bowl in the second innings?” Saba asked Pant. “Who is Shanto or Rishabh Pant?”
Ajay and I often share our thoughts on how to make cricket better, be it for the team or against it,” Pant said, causing a fit of laughter among Karim, Jadeja and the other members of the commentary team.
Pant’s innings of 109 runs extended India’s total lead to over 500 runs and set a target of 515 runs for Bangladesh when he added 167 runs for the fourth wicket with Shubman Gill (119 not out). However, Bangladesh could not achieve this target as it was all out for 234 runs in the morning session on day four.
Download the CricInformer app
Take CricInformer with you. Get our app for cricket news and updates on your phone.