Rishabh Pant career profile: Age, early years, stats and rankings

Young wicket-keeper/batsman Rishabh Pant’s dream of playing for team India finally became true when the left-handed batsman made his T20I debut against England in 2017. After MS Dhoni’s humungous contribution towards Indian cricket for so many years, Rishabh Pant has often been cited by many cricketing experts to take up the keeping role once the veteran hangs up his boots. Ever since his international debut, Pant has made many headlines for his wicket-keeping skills and batting exploits. The Delhi Capitals keeper was also the recipient of ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year award at ICC's 2018 awards.

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Rishabh Pant Career Profile: Domestic And International Stats

Domestic Career

Before being part of India’s runners-up campaign at 2016’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Rishabh Pant made his Ranji Trophy debut during the 2015-16 season of the tournament. Playing for Delhi, Pant also made his List A debut in the same year. In the following Ranji season, the then 19-year old smashed a triple century against Maharashtra and also scored the fastest century of tournament's history in the same season. Pant also holds the record of scoring the second-fastest Twenty20 century, when he scored 100 runs off just 32 balls against Himachal Pradesh in 2017–18 Zonal T20 League. For his consistent domestic performances, the swashbuckling Delhi batsman was soon rewarded with debuts in all three formats by BCCI.

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International Career

Rishabh Pant made his Test debut against England and his ODI debut against West Indies in 2018. His first scoring shot in Tests was a lofted-six off Adil Rashid’s bowling en route to his short-stayed innings of 24. However, in only the third Test of his career, the stylish left-hander scored his maiden international century at The Oval with a stroke-filled 114 off just 146 balls. The southpaw cracked another century a few months later during India’s victorious ‘Border-Gavaskar Trophy’ campaign in Australia. Rishabh scored a quick-fire 159* in India’s first innings to ensure that the visiting team pocketed the series 2-1 to win their first-ever Test series ‘Down Under’. 

After Shikhar Dhawan suffered an injury on his left thumb, Pant got a surprise call-up to the Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England. India’s campaign, however, ended with a semi-final defeat against New Zealand. Post World Cup, India’s regular limited-overs keeper MS Dhoni skipped the West Indian tour which provided the 21-year old with an ideal opportunity to prove himself in the game’s short formats. Pant scored a match-winning 65* in the third T20I to complete a 3-0 trouncing of West Indies. Rishabh Pant will continue to don the gloves in ongoing South Africa’s tour of India for the upcoming Test series against the Proteas. 

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