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Cricket has finally arrived in America. So did Rishabh Pant. Against Bangladesh in a warm-up match leading to India’s T20 World Cup campaign, Pant showed his batting supremacy. The Delhi cricketer is striking the ball so cleanly that it can even make his teammates jealous of him. In simple words, he was an absolute treat to watch in action.
So, what if the drop-in pitch in New York pitch is slow and low? Pant was at his maundering best. Even when the Bangladeshi slow bowlers tried cramping Pant for room, he was ready with a wild on-side swing on those deliveries hurled towards his pads. The stump line bowling paid a heavy price. Pant smashed them in the deep mid-wicket area with utter disdain. The way Pant clobbered Shakib Al-Hasan like a club bowler was another striking feature of the match.
Just when Shakib came to bowl his third over, Pant retired on 52 off 32 deliveries to provide others with some batting practice. Stand and deliver against spinners. Vice-captain Hardik Pandya did what he does best, whacking the spinner standing tall at the crease towards the fag end of the Indian innings. He looked to be a different player in Indian colors as opposed to what we saw him in IPL as Mumbai Indians captain
With four sixes and four hits to the fence, Pant’s knock is testimony of what he could be doing for India when the tournament gets underway. The first warm-up game was just a trailer — as far as Pant is concerned.
With Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal not playing the game, captain Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson struggled with their timing. Six-hitting specialist Shivam Dube also struggled.
On a slow and low track, the one who waited for the bowler and got his timing right from the word go was Pant.
The way Pant stood on the crease, tapping the bat, waited, and allowed the ball to come to him rather than chasing it. In the process, Pant had that extra time to smash the ball and often used the pace of the ball because he was not looking to hit the ball out of the park with his bat swing. Pant got to the pitch of the ball with some quick footwork, and body weight transfer was just too immaculate while his teammates struggled — showing the confidence level of the Delhi Capital skipper.
It looks clear that opposition bowlers are going to be ‘Panting’ for breath!
