Rishabh Pant produced a brilliant counter-attack under pressure to put India back on track during Day 2 of the third and final Test against New Zealand. He scored 60 off just 59 deliveries and his electrifying hitting drew comparisons with some of the legendary batsmen including Vivian Richards and Virender Sehwag.

During his commentary period, India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri, who has worked with Pant in the past, stated that Pant has a reputation that the aforementioned former cricketers had when they came to bat.

“He was 1 overnight and he has already beaten (Shubman) Gill. The thing about Pant is that he has a certain reputation – of destroying bowling attacks – and if that’s the case, bowlers think, ‘ If I get it wrong in the slightest, he’ll destroy me’. People with such a reputation were Viv Richards and Kapil Dev Ian Botham.’ Shastri said on air.

“I wrote down a few names. Virender Sehwag also played that brand of cricket.”

The wicketkeeper-batsman arrived at the crease at a precarious moment, with the side tottering at 85/4 in the first innings; the side had lost three wickets within two overs when Pant came to bat, tasked with wrapping up the opening day’s play without further casualties.

Pants power on day 2

Pant played just one ball and took one single to end the day but showed his explosive best in the morning session on Day 2 at the Wankhede Stadium. The 26-year-old batsman took the New Zealand bowlers to the cleaners and became the fastest Indian to score a half-century against the side in Test history (36 deliveries). Pant mainly targeted Ajaz Patel, who threatened the Indian batting order during the final minutes of Day 1.

His aggressive batting saw the Kiwis forced to remove Ajaz from the attack, who had conceded at over 6 rpo, albeit with two wickets to show for it. While Shubman Gill took a more cautious approach, Pant took charge of run-scoring, finding boundaries with relative ease before falling on 60 off just 59 deliveries.