Rishabh Pant Comeback Match in Duleep Trophy 2024: Indian cricket team’s star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is going to return to first class cricket after a long time. After a gap of about 20 months, Pant will play in the match between Team A vs Team B in the Duleep Trophy on 5 September. Pant is considered India’s greatest Test wicketkeeper-batsman, who has scored centuries on foreign soil like South Africa, Australia and England. This match will be Pant’s first return to red ball cricket after the accident on 30 December 2022.
Expectations from Pant in Duleep Trophy
People are expecting big runs from Rishabh Pant in the Duleep Trophy, but the question is, is it possible? Pant has played 25 matches since his return, 24 of which were T20 matches. T20 performance cannot be a true assessment of his preparation for red ball cricket. Still, some problems have been observed. Pant’s hand-eye coordination seems a bit slow, which was also evident in IPL 2024. However, he batted brilliantly for Delhi Capitals and was the team’s highest run-scorer. But on the Sri Lanka tour, especially in T20 and ODI matches, he looked rusty.
Pant’s test in Duleep Trophy
In the Duleep Trophy, Rishabh Pant will face bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav, Akashdeep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. All these bowlers have represented India and three of them have also played Test cricket. Pant has performed brilliantly for India in red ball cricket, but it will be interesting to see if he is ready for this challenge. All eyes will be on his comeback and this match can prove to be a turning point in his cricket career.
Challenges facing Pant
This comeback will not be easy for Rishabh Pant. On one hand, he will have competitors like Dhruv Jurel, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul, who have played for Team India in Pant’s absence. Among them, Dhruv Jurel has performed brilliantly with both bat and gloves. On the other hand, Pant’s biggest challenge is Pant himself. Pant has set a high benchmark in Test cricket, where four of his five centuries have come on foreign soil, which no other Indian wicketkeeper has been able to achieve. Pant scored 102 runs in his last Test match (93 and 9) and a big performance is always expected from him. If that accident had not happened, Pant would probably have reached close to great players like Andy Flower and Adam Gilchrist by now.
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