Rishabh Pant hits his first Test fifty in 639 days

Rishabh Pant is back and it’s like he never left in the first place. 

Playing his first Test in nearly two years, the left-hander has picked up from where he left, smashing his 12th fifty in Tests. 

The fifty is Pant’s first in 639 days, with his last fifty-plus score (93) coming on December 23, 2022, on Day 2 of the Mirpur Test against Bangladesh, his last red-ball game before the unfortunate car accident. 

Pant looked in fine touch in the first innings, walking in at No.5. He walked in to bat in a precarious position at 34/3, but stitched together a 62-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, in which he amassed 39 off 52 balls. However, he got out immediately after lunch, nicking one to the wicketkeeper playing a loose shot.

The 26-year-old, however, made it count in the second innings, getting to his 17th fifty-plus score in Tests. On this occasion he had a cushion, with India’s lead 294 by the time he walked out to bat, and the left-hander ensured that he played his hand in effectively batting Bangladesh out of the Test. 

In many ways, this was a slightly uncharacteristic innings from Pant, who did not show any fireworks or pyrotechnics till he got to fifty. He was more than happy to just defend the spinners and be watchful against the pacers. He got to his fifty off 88 balls, making it his third-slowest fifty in Tests. 

However, the 26-year-old did show glimpses of his usual cheekiness, hitting a trademark one-handed six on the first ball of the 40th over bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Pant went into lunch unbeaten on 82 off 107, and has put on 138 for the fourth wicket with Shubman Gill (86*). 

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