Rishabh Pant’s second-ball six on Test debut left his mother ‘very much surprised’

For India’s 291st Test player Rishabh Pant, the debut Test has so far been a memorable one. The 20-year-old Delhi batsman came into the playing XI in place of out-of-form and injured Dinesh Karthik and thumped the ball out of the ground in the second delivery he faced in the game.

Though he missed the unique record of New Zealander Mark Craig who hit a first-ball six on debut, yet his outrageous shot off English spinner Adil Rashid at Trent Bridge left fans impressed as well as surprised and among them is also his mother Saroj.

Pant, who came out to bat at the score of 279 for five, hit 24 off 51 balls and helped India reach a respectable score of 329 in their first innings. He then took five catches in England’s first innings, becoming only the fourth Indian gloveman to do so in the debut Test after Naren Tamhane, Kiran More, and Naman Ojha.

He is mentally very strong

“I was very nervous when I heard that he would be making his Test debut. I was very much surprised. Before going into play the Test, he telephoned me and asked me to watch him play on TV. I generally don’t watch matches on TV when he is playing. However, after his father’s recent death, he has been requesting me to watch him play,” Saroj was quoted as saying in The Kashmir Times.

Pant’s coach Tarak Sinha, however, was not surprised by Pant’s maximum. Sinha, who has coached many former Indian cricketers, said, “Rishabh is a steel [sic] man and among all my other promising pupils, has ability to hit hard. He is mentally very strong and is not only the player with the white ball. He has proved that he can play the red cherry with confidence and against all odds”.

Pant, who has played four T20Is for India, averages 54-plus in 23 first-class games with the highest score of 308. He also had a good season in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils this year.

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