Rishabh Pant

At 19, Rishabh Pant has gone through all the highs and lows of a cricketing career. A promising talent from Delhi, Pant came into reckoning after his exploits for India Under-19 in the 2016 World Cup. A dashing left-handed wicket-keeper batsman, he lit up the tournament with a blitzing 24-ball 75, the fastest half-century of the tournament, against Nepal and followed it up with a century against Namibia. India lost the title round - but came back with several positives - nothing bigger than the emergence of Pant.

Pant's heroics didn't go unnoticed, and days after his Nepal stunner, he was drafted in by the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL auctions. He gained a permanent place in Delhi's domestic circuit and by the end of the season was even named as their captain, albeit for the one-day format of the game. In between, he made his full India debut, against England in a Twenty20 international in Bengaluru.

The second Ranji season for Rishabh wasn't as good as the first one. But he made up for that in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He smashed the then second fastest hundred in T20 history in just 32 balls against Himachal Pradesh. This knock brought him into the selectors reckoning again and he was named in the Nidhas Trophy team.

Pant again had a disappointing outing in his comeback match. He hasn't been himself at the international level and often tried to hit the ball too hard to his liking and failed to portray his hitting prowess. Strangely, his strike rate in the International T20 is just over 100 which is well below average for a power hitter.

With Saha nursing a finger injury, Pant made his Test debut against England in 2018, and he got off the mark with a six on debut. In the final Test at the Oval, Pant scored a superb century as he stitched together a partnership with KL Rahul in the fourth innings that nearly took the game away from England.

A few months later, Pant found himself as the first choice keeper for the tour to Australia. He was superb in that series as well, scoring a century in Sydney as India won an away Test series against Australia for the first time. In June 2019, Pant was picked midway as a replacement player for Shikhar Dhawan for the ODI World Cup.

Post the World Cup and the subsequent retirement of MS Dhoni, Pant was the first choice keeper across formats. He suffered a dip in form though and was in and out of the side, while his batting position was switched around in white ball cricket. KL Rahul was at times picked at the keeper during that period as Pant was relegated towards the fringes of Indian cricket.

He was part of the Test squad for the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy, but wasn’t part of the XI for the first Test as Saha was preferred over him. India lost the first Test with the ignominious 36 all out, and that called for a few changes in the side. That prompted Pant to get a way back into the team, and he proved to be the difference for the rest of the series. The southpaw scored a counter attacking 97 in Sydney in the fourth innings as India saved a tricky Test match.

In the fourth Test, India were rank underdogs due to injuries, playing against a full strength Australia who hadn’t lost in Gabba since two decades. The chips were stacked against India to chase 328 on the final day, but Pant played a spellbinding knock of 89* to give India a famous match and series win away to Australia.

Pant was superb in the home series against England as well, counter attacking the opposition spinners as India came from a Test down to win the series 3-1. In December 2022, Pant suffered an unfortunate car accident which left him with some serious knee and back injuries. He was out of cricket for more than a year, and made a miraculous recovery to not only get back onto his feet but also to be able to return to the cricket field ahead of IPL 2024.

His athleticism and range of play remained unaffected even post the accident, as Pant was back to his swashbuckling best. Pant was picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup, and played all games as India won the trophy. Despite suffering a ghastly injury, Pant has not only managed a full recovery but has managed to claim his spot in the national side.

In his comeback Test, Pant scored a ton against Bangladesh. And in the following series where India were whitewashed by New Zealand, the wicketkeeper-batter was the lone positive for the hosts as he scored 261 runs in three Tests and ended up as the leading run-getter of the series.

Pant had a forgettable 2024-25 BGT series in Australia but he capped off the tour with an entertaining 33-ball 61 in his final innings. In the England series away from home later that year, Pant found his mojo back with two hundreds and three fifties in seven innings, but his series came to a premature end due to a foot fracture. Pant didn’t play a single white-ball game for India in 2025, losing his spot to the likes of KL Rahul, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan.

IPL through the years

The expertise that the IPL demands and the skill set that Rishabh Pant possesses are absolutely in synchronization. If ever the definition of an ideal T20 batsman would be written, Rishabh Pant would tick most of the aspects. He is a ferocious hitter of the cricket ball with a wide array of shots and can clear the boundary ropes with ridiculous ease. The scoops, the paddles, the flicks, you name it and this bloke has every shot in his repertoire.

His career so far is an epitome of the Indian Premier League's timeline 'where talent meets opportunity.' Rishabh was picked up by Delhi Daredevils at a whopping price of 1.9 Crores in the 2016 auction. His first season didn't pan out the way Rishabh would have liked but he definitely vindicated the owners trust in 2017. A breakthrough season and Rishabh Pant had well and truly arrived. Going into the second season of the IPL, his confidence was sky-high and there were talks of an imminent India cap for the 2017 Champions Trophy. But life had another twist for the young batsman. Days before his team's first match - against Royal Challengers Bangalore, his father passed away, leaving a void difficult to fill. He came back to cricket from the tragedy, nearly guided his team home with a single-handed effort, and later blasted a blistering 97 against Gujarat Lions to finish the tournament with 366 runs.

Rishabh was retained for the third season and he proved to be Delhi's only shining light in otherwise a pretty dark campaign. Throughout the season, Pant was responsible for demolishing the morale of the bowlers. His innings of 125 against SRH was one for the ages. The manner in which he took world-class Bhuvneshwar apart was a testimony to his grand stature as a T20 batsman. He will churn out for Delhi Capitals this year with an immense amount of international experience under his belt. And he would very well know a stellar season can fetch him a ticket to England for the World Cup.

In 2021, Pant was chosen as captain for Delhi Capitals as their usual skipper Shreyas Iyer was out due to a shoulder injury. He continued to retain the captaincy even after Iyer returned for the second half of the IPL. He captained Delhi for the next couple of seasons in the IPL as well, but DC failed to make it to the playoffs consistently. Pant was retained by Delhi despite him not being able to play in IPL 2023. Ahead of the 2025 auctions, he was released by Delhi Capitals and he became the most expensive player at 27 crores when he was picked by Lucknow Super Giants. Leading LSG, Pant had a poor IPL with the bat as he scored just 269 runs in 13 innings which included an unbeaten 118 in his team’s final match of the season.

By Varun Dixit