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Rishabh Pant scored a quickfire 61 off 33 balls in the second innings of the Sydney Test Against Australia.
Sachin Tendulkar showers high praise on Rishabh Pant (PTI Photo)
India great Sachin Tendulkar was in awe of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s brilliant batting in the second innings of the fifth Test against Australia.
Amid India’s continued batting struggles at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on the second day of the Test, Pant emerged as a beacon of hope. He scored a quick-fire 33-ball 61 with six boundaries and as many as four sixes.
Highlighting the importance of his knock, Tendulkar captioned an Instagram story to say, “On a wicket where the majority of the batters have batted at an SR of 50 or less, Rishabh Pant’s knock with an SR of 184 is truly remarkable.”
Tendulkar also pointed out that Rishabh Pant had shaken up Australia’s bowling attack in the second innings. “He has rattled Australia from ball one. It is always entertaining to watch him bat. What an impactful innings!” the Master Blaster added.
This is not the first time Tendulkar was impressed by Pant. He had shared similar words for the ‘keeper when he scored a century in the India-Bangladesh Test series last year.
Pant had smashed 109 runs against Bangladesh during the Chennai Test. It enabled India to register a dominant 280-run victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Reacting to his knock on X (formerly Twitter), Tendulkar had written, “Loved watching Shubman Gill glide his way to a hundred. And Rishabh Pant, despite being away from the longer format for quite some time, looks as sharp as ever. Great to see both of them in such a fine rhythm.”
Pant’s fearless cricket helped India overcome the pressure at SCG. The wicketkeeper required 29 deliveries to complete his half-century against Australia. It was the second-fastest fifty by an Indian in Test cricket.
Pant was one ball shy of matching his own record of a 28-ball fifty which he scored against Sri Lanka in 2022.
Earlier, India was spotless during their bowling display in Sydney, dismissing Australia for 181. Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, combined for eight wickets.
But India failed to carry forward the momentum into the second innings, with the visiting side’s top order crumbling facing the Aussie pacers.
KL Rahul and Shubman Gill added 13 runs each whereas Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn’t get past the 22-run mark. Virat Kohli was dismissed by Scott Boland in the 14th over. India currently led Australia by 145 runs at the end of the second day’s play.
