Pant slammed an explosive century on his return to Test cricket against Bangladesh in Chennai.
Test cricket has seen a rise in an aggressive brand of batting in recent years. Australian captain Pat Cummins recently shared his thoughts regarding the same.
“Look, I think every team has one or two of those players who can take the game on. You know, we’ve got Travis Head and, and Mitch Marsh and those guys,” Cummins said on Star Sports.
Cummins also gave a special mention to Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is known for his audacious batting display in the longest format of the game.
“I think that those guys, you know, that they’re going to be aggressive. If you miss your area a little bit, they’re going to take the game on. You know, something like a Rishabh Pant might play a reverse lap and it’s an incredible shot. And that’s just part of who he is,” he added.
Cummins further credited Pant for influencing change in batting approach for the traditional format.
“I think we’ve become a bit more accustomed to it nowadays when some of those ridiculous shots are a bit more common. But yeah, he’s someone that has had a big influence in a couple of series and got to try and keep him quiet,” he remarked.
The recently-concluded Chennai Test against Bangladesh marked Rishabh Pant's first red-ball match for India since his horrific car accident in December 2022, and the southpaw made his presence felt immediately as he slammed 109 off 128 balls (13 fours and 4 sixes) in the second innings.
With his sixth century in the format, Pant also equalled the legendary MS Dhoni for the most tons by an Indian wicketkeeper in Test cricket.
The southpaw is expected to play a key role in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. He was instrumental in India’s last two Test series wins Down Under.
Prior to the Australia tour, India will play one more Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur which will be followed by a three-match Test series against New Zealand at home.