‘Entertain us all with your behind the stumps commentary’ - Cricket fraternity extends wishes as Rishabh Pant turns 25

If you were to pick one batter who has redefined the style of batting in Test cricket lately then Rishabh Pant's name is bound to cross your head. The flamboyant southpaw turns 25 on Tuesday (October 4).

Born in Uttarakhand, Pant was part of the India U19 side during the 2016 World Cup and played a big role at the top of the order in getting his side to the finals. He immediately bagged a lucrative deal from the Delhi franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and impressed straightaway with his aggressive strokeplay.  

Pant had two back-to-back good IPL seasons and was scoring big centuries for fun in Ranji Trophy which earned him a call-up in the Indian side in 2017. He was seen as the next big thing in ‘Indian Cricket’ despite having poor returns in his first few international outings. However, India's tour to Australia 2020-21 changed the whole script for him.

Pant's phenomenal display in Australia

The management brought him back into the set-up after losing the first Test in Adelaide and he played two breathtaking innings in SCG and at the Gabba which will be talked about for a lot of years. The left-hander also improved his wicketkeeping skills considerably and has excelled in the Test format across continents since then.

In fact, he remains the only Asian wicketkeeper to score centuries in England, Australia and South Africa, which is deemed as the toughest of conditions for batters.  

Pant has been an exceptional talent always and the famous reverse sweep off James Anderson in the 4th Test in Ahmedabad in 2021 speaks volumes of the batting talent he possesses.

He still hasn’t found his best groove in the limited-over formats for India and has scored just three fifties in 61 T20I games. However, he has led the country already in shorter formats, and could be a strong contender for the role in future.  

Meanwhile, many former cricketers, experts and his teammates wished him on his birthday with interesting wishes.  

Let us look at how the cricketing fraternity wished the young southpaw: