Australia’s talisman batsman Steve Smith has heaped praise on India’s wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant.
Smith stated that Pant is an exceptional talent and he took the game away from the hosts on the final day of the Gabba Test. India was chasing 328 runs and Pant joined forces with Cheteshwar Pujara when another 161 runs were needed.
The pugnacious left-hander scored an unbeaten 89 to take his team over the line and to a famous and a very special win. Pant took the attack to the opposition and played with maturity. In fact, Pant smashed Nathan Lyon over the long-on boundary after the previous ball had spun viciously off the track. However, the southpaw wasn’t afraid to use his feet to get to the pitch of the next ball.
Pant has time and again showed that he can turn the tide with his blistering batting and he did the same on the final day. The left-hander might not be the best wicket-keeper but he certainly has great batting skills under his repertoire.
“He (Pant) is an exceptional talent as we’ve seen, he played a pretty amazing innings on a day-five wicket. He took the game on, played in his areas,” Smith told cricket.com.au.
“We’ve seen in short-form cricket in particular how good he is and where he can hit the ball and that was a pretty special innings today.”
On the other hand, Pant scored 274 runs in the five innings at an average of 68.50 and ended as India’s highest run-getter. In fact, Pant had also scored a majestic knock of 97 runs in the second innings of the Sydney Test match and had given a glimmer of hope to the Indian team to chase down the total.
Pant is known for his whirlwind batting and he can turn the match on its head with his aggression. India went on to clinch the match at the Gabba by three wickets and thus sealed the series 2-1. This triumph will go down in the history of Indian cricket as one of their best ever, especially given the fact that the team had to overcome the adversities such as the absence of their full-time skipper and a spate of injuries.
