Rishabh Pant’s brilliant presence in New York dazzles the cricket world

On a surface where a total of 232 runs were scored over 40 overs, it goes without saying that batting wasn’t the strongest suit for any of the two teams who were in action. However, Rishabh Pant, who also forged a solid innings against Ireland in the tournament opener was seen leading the charge for Team India amidst reckless odds.

He walked out to bat in the second over of the innings and the ball was doing its own share of tricks early on. With Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah spitting fire in tandem, Pant weathered the early storm before eventually hitting his own stride.

It was almost after four overs of stay in the center that Pant got his first four, even though he had a slice of luck going in his favour. Mohammad Amir’s quicker delivery was sliced hard by the southpaw and the ball just eluded the extended arms of the slip fielder.

Pulling off a dead ringer of the same shot, Pant edged another one in the same over only for the ball to fly past the slip cordon as the runs started coming for the Indian wicket-keeper.

Despite a few swings and misses, Pant once again got his jets back on in the 10th over where he smashed Haris Rauf for a hattrick of boundaries, upping the ante for Team India.

The first one witnessed Pant parking a slower delivery over extra cover while following that one with another exquisite hit that sent the ball crashing to the fence past the fine-leg fielder. The third one was a gift from Haris Rauf as he was pumped to the fence emphatically while bowling onto Pant’s pads.

His batting showdown eventually met an end when he fell against Mohammad Amir while trying to pull a delivery that got stuck into the surface. Nonetheless had it not been for Pant’s brazen 42, the equation could have been entirely different for Team India.

However, for the ones who thought that they had seen the end of Pant, they were in for a stern reality check. If his display with the bat was simply brilliant, his presence with the gloves was even better. The first catch of the evening for him was that of Fakhar Zaman where he wheeled back and took an astonishing grab, averting the helmet at the tip of his foot.

The next catch was of Shadab Khan and even though he made it look pretty easy, he had to cover some significant yards to pouch it. However, he saved the best for the last, diving to his wrong side as a low-fizzling catch that almost died on him was nestled comfortably in his gloves removing the dangerous Imad Wasim on the very first ball of the final over. Pant was one of the crucial cogs of Team India’s roaring front in New York again while propelling his team to a remarkable comeback from an almost ineluctable situation.