Rishabh Pant, the flamboyant wicket-keeper batter, has made a remarkable comeback to Test cricket with a fantastic hundred against Bangladesh in Chennai on Saturday. His impressive performance also drew comparisons to the legendary Indian opener, Virender Sehwag.
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has likened Pant's aggressive batting style to Sehwag's. Both players are known for their fearless approach to the game and their ability to dominate bowlers.
Basit also pointed out that both batters used attack as a way of defence in the longest format of cricket.
"There are two batters in India. The second is Rishabh Pant. The first one was Virender Sehwag, whose defence was attacking. He used to go after the boundary on the first ball. Rishabh Pant came, whose defence is attack. He plays shots and plays well against Bangladesh. He won hearts," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
On the third day, Pant used his aggressive batting style to score a lot of runs on the friendly surface of the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Teamed up with Shubman Gill, they together scored 167 runs, helping India reach a massive total of 515 runs. When Pant reached the three-figure mark, even Virat Kohli stood up and applauded his outstanding achievement.
Meanwhile, Pant forged his 109-run knock by mixing up his front-foot and backfoot play. To deal with the spinners, he mostly relied on his backfoot game, bought himself time, and picked the gaps according to his ease.
On a couple of occasions, he came down the track with aggression and used the surface to his advantage. In the 53rd over, he came down the track and struck a half-volley to clear the boundary rope off Shakib Al Hasan.
His impressive inning laced with 13 fours and four mouthwatering sixes was brought to an end by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. He cushioned it back to the Bangladesh spinner, which brought an end to his sensational display. He walked back with applause from the crowd and blew a kiss towards heaven.
(With ANI inputs)