When television and cricket executives thrashed out a $360 million deal to beam Australian summers into India two years ago, Rishabh Pant’s batting pyrotechnics are said to have driven the dollars north.
Two years later, Pant and India are on their way back, and Disney Star’s $360 million, seven-year investment looks a bargain.
Rishabh Pant’s day-four six off New Zealand’s Tim Southee in Bengalaru was measured at 107 metres long.Credit: BCCI
Pant’s status as one of the great modern entertainers was sealed with a series-defining, unbeaten 89 at the Gabba in 2021, and it loomed large when Cricket Australia’s record-breaking deal in India was secured.
Since then, the 27-year-old’s storyline has become one of the more remarkable in world sport – with Pant pulled from his flipped SUV moments before it burst into flames in December 2022.
A dislocated knee that turned 90 degrees in the accident was the least of his worries. He was lucky to keep not just his leg, but his life, and told Star Sports earlier this year that “I felt my time in this world was over.”
Rarely, if ever, has the spotlight on Virat Kohli been dulled by teammates in an Indian side.
Police officers investigate the scene of Rishabh Pant’s 2022 car accident near Roorkee, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.Credit: AP
But when Pant strode to the wicket before scoring an audacious 99 against New Zealand on Saturday, he sidled up alongside Sarfaraz Khan. His batting partner was playing his fourth Test with a compelling story in his own right.
Sarfaraz’s first claim to fame came at the tender age of 12, when he scored 439 in an interschool tournament. Later accusations that he played over-age led to bone tests, a suspension, further tests and Sarfaraz eventually being cleared.
The batting obsession of a 12-year-old with a quadruple ton has translated into a first-class average nudging 70, but his rise to national honours has been dogged by regular concerns over his fitness.
Alongside Pant in Bengalaru, Sarfaraz’s maiden Test century was extended to 150 with a series of brash ramps and cuts from a batter more than happy scoring behind the wicket.
Sarfaraz Khan celebrates his debut Test hundred against New Zealand.Credit: AP
India’s dissection for a miserable 46 – their lowest total on home soil – to start the Test seemed far more distant than just two days ago.
Never more so than when Pant moved from 90 to 96 against a seaming new ball that was six overs old. Kiwis Glenn Phillips and Darryl Mitchell were visibly and rightfully stunned in the field.
Pant had dropped to one knee and slog-swept Tim Southee no less than 107 metres and straight out of the ground.
It was the jewel in a glittering 105-ball knock that came under increasing duress, Pant hobbled more and more by a knock to his surgically repaired knee that he picked up while keeping a day earlier.
As is Pant’s way, he was gone three runs later. Out for 99, his seventh Test score in the 90s as part of a 7-62 collapse against New Zealand’s new ball.
On Sunday, the Kiwis survived the early assault of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to cruise to a deserved eight-wicket win, their first in 36 years on Indian soil.
On to Pune as quickly as Thursday both sides go, with the three-Test series wrapped up by November 5 and India’s Border-Gavaskar retention beginning on the 22nd.
Rohit Sharma’s side has its issues, not least their susceptibility against the moving ball, especially given the Australian quicks’ record in Perth and that Mitchell Starc is taking a pink ball across the series’ first two Tests.
Mohammed Shami’s delayed recovery from ankle surgery has Sharma wary of bringing their own world-class seamer to Australia undercooked by recent swelling in his knee. Sharma is also set to miss one of the first two opening Tests for family reasons.
Rishabh Pant remains as enterprising as ever.Credit: AP
In 22-year-old opener Yashavi Jaiswal, India also have a classy strokemaker with two double centuries in his first 11 Tests, an average of 64 and Brian Lara’s backing to do damage in Australia.
Kohli and Sharma, Bumrah, Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja anchor both the batting and an attack as well-rounded as the hosts.
And in Pant, with Sarfaraz emerging alongside him, India boast a middle-order match-winner to match Travis Head.
So regularly compared to Adam Gilchrist, Gilchrist himself has described Pant as “fearless” and the more aggressive of the two at the crease.
To be batting in the same fashion, slog-sweeping Southee into traffic along the way, just 18 months after his life-threatening accident makes Pant this summer’s most fascinating tourist.
Especially when during his recovery, Pant was first drawn back to the game by the enthralling 2023 Ashes – regarded as one of the most entertaining in history.
“England have started playing in a certain fashion, something I am used to,” Pant told Star Sports in February.
“Rohit says we will also play Rishball. He says ‘you play that anyway, but we will get others to follow you’.”
And to think the Rishabh Pant story has only grown more compelling since he was last on these shores.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
