Rishabh Pant returned to Test cricket after more than 630 days when India and Bangladesh clashed in the first Test in Chennai that started on September 22. Pant had been out of action for more than 18 months after surviving a near-fatal car accident in December 2022.
He made his cricketing return in IPL 2024 and became a world champion when India won the T20 World Cup 2024. However, there was a doubt on whether Pant’s body could take the pressure and stress of playing five-day cricket.
It was like Rishabh Pant has never missed any time on the field. He kept well and helped Yashasvi Jaiswal stabilize the innings in the first do with a knock of 39 runs. However, he showed that he was truly back in the second innings, when he stroked a brilliant 109 runs, in a huge partnership with Shubman Gill (119*).
In the end, India won the Test by 280 runs to begin their 5 Test stretch at home. Rohit Sharma & Co consolidated their position as the top team in the WTC leaderboard with their seventh win in 10 Tests so far in the 2023-25 cycle.
This century was Rishabh Pant’s 6th and led to him equalling MS Dhoni's record for the most centuries in Test cricket by an Indian wicketkeeper.
"Definitely a lot special. Firstly, I love playing in Chennai and secondly, after injury, I was looking to play all three formats. This was my first match in this format and hopefully, I did better,” Pant told JioCinema following India’s win in the Chennai Test.
Pant, who scored 39 in the first innings, called it an emotional hundred for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it occurred in a format to which, he adds, "I belong the most".
"Definitely it was emotional, I was looking to score runs in each and every game. Coming back to Test cricket, where I belong the most, being on the field gives me pleasure more than anything else," he said.
In the second innings, his dominating partnership of 167 runs with Gill swelled India's lead past 500.
"I don't know what people say outside, I try to read the situation in my own way. When you are 30 for 3 for 50 for 3, you need to stitch a partnership and that's what I did with Gill. To do it with a guy who I have a great relationship with is special," he concluded.
The second and final Test of the series will be played in Kanpur from September 27 onwards.
