Rishabh Pant-Biography, Career, Stats

Read on to know more about Rishabh Pant such as his stats, career, age, height and more.

Profile Summary

Biography

Indian international cricket player Rishabh Rajendra Pant is a wicket-keeper batsman for the Indian cricket team. He is most recognized for his consistency in scoring runs in Test cricket, even though he has played for India in all forms. In the Indian Premier League, Pant captains the Delhi Capitals and plays cricket for Delhi in his own country. The India U-19 squad that finished second in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup had him as vice captain.

In January 2017, he debuted for India in Twenty20 International (T20I), August 2018 in Test matches, and October 2018 in One Day International (ODI) matches. Pant won the 2018 ICC Awards' ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year title in January 2019. Pant won the Men's Player of the Month title in the inaugural ICC Player of the Month Awards in February 2021.

After KL Rahul, the original captain, was ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa due to injury, Pant was selected the Indian captain for that match in June 2022.

Age

Born on 4 October 1997, Rishabh Pant is 26 years old as of 2024.

Height

Rishabh Pant is 5 feet 7 inches or 170 centimeters tall.

Family

Rajendra and Saroj Pant of Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India, welcomed Rishabh Pant into the world on October 4, 1997. When Pant was twelve, his mother would take him to Delhi on the weekends so he could train at the Sonnet Cricket Academy under esteemed coach Tarak Sinha. They had nowhere to stay in the city, so he and his mother stayed at a Gurdwara in Moti Bagh. Despite several struggles, with the mentorship of Sinha, Pant was able to make progress in the Under 19 matches which earned him recognition in the cricket community.

Career

First Stage

In the 2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Pant made his List A debut the following month after making his first-class debut on October 22, 2015, in the Ranji Trophy.

Pant became the third-youngest Indian to reach a triple century in first-class cricket when he made 308 runs in an innings during a match against Maharashtra during the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy.

In Delhi's match against Jharkhand on November 8, 2016, Pant hit the fastest century in Ranji Trophy history, needing just 48 balls.

Pant was selected as Delhi's captain for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2016–17 in February 2017. Gautam Gambhir, who had guided Delhi to the previous season's final, was replaced by him. It was a "consensus decision," according to Delhi coach Bhaskar Pillai, to get Pant ready for the future.

Pant made the second-fastest century in a Twenty20 match on January 14, 2018, against Delhi in the 2017–18 Zonal T20 League. Pant reached 100 from 32 balls.

IPL Career

On the same day that he led the India U-19 team to victory in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup with a century, Pant was acquired by the Delhi Daredevils in advance of the 2016 Indian Premier League. In his third match of the year, Pant amassed 69 runs off of 40 balls to lead Delhi against the Gujarat Lions by eight wickets. He scored 97 runs off of 43 balls against the same opposition in the 2017 season.

Pant set a record for the highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in IPL history when he hit an undefeated 128 off 63 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad during the 2018 Indian Premier League.

Additionally, he became the second-youngest player in the IPL history to score a century. His 128 was the second-highest percentage of runs by an individual batsman in an IPL match, accounting for 68.4% of the team total. Following the injury that kept regular captain Shreyas Iyer out of the 2021 Indian Premier League for the whole competition, Pant was named the captain of the Delhi Capitals for that season in March of 2021. He was also kept in charge as captain for the 2022 Indian Premier League.

Going International

Pant was included in the Indian Twenty20 International (T20I) team for their series against England in January 2017. On February 1, 2017, he made his debut for India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore during the third Twenty20 International match against England. At the age of 19 years and 120 days, Pant became the youngest player to play for India in a Twenty20 International match.

He was included in the India T20I team for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy in February of that year. Pant was included in the Indian Test team for the series against England in July 2018. On August 18, 2018, he faced England in his Test debut. After hitting a six early in the series, he became the first batsman for India to reach the milestone in Test cricket. In addition to becoming the second-youngest wicketkeeper in history and the first Indian wicketkeeper to record a Test century in England, Pant achieved his first-ever century against England on September 11, 2018. He was included in India's One Day International (ODI) team for their series against the West Indies the following month. On October 21, 2018, he played his first-ever ODI match for India against the West Indies.

Pant grabbed the most catches of any Indian wicketkeeper in a Test match when he took eleven in December 2018 during the first Test against Australia. Pant became the first wicketkeeper for India to reach a century in an Australian Test match in January 2019, during the fourth Test match against Australia.

Pant was added to India's Cricket World Cup roster in June 2019 to replace Shikhar Dhawan, who was injured in the team's match against Australia, breaking a hairline in his left thumb. The International Cricket Council (ICC) designated Pant as the team's rising star after the World Cup.

Given that MS Dhoni had said he would be taking a break from international cricket, the 2019–20 home season was expected to be crucial for Pant. With Pant among the front-runners, India began the season searching for a new wicket-keeping stalwart. Pant, however, fell farther down the ladder due to the left-hander's mediocre performances and the rise of KL Rahul as a wicket-keeping alternative.

It didn't help that the 2020 IPL season was abysmal. Pant only managed to score 343 runs at a strike rate of 113, compared to his previous two seasons' total of 1172 runs at a strike rate of 168. His lone fifty came in a losing effort during the finals.

As a result, Pant was left off of the limited-overs team that was playing in Australia in 2020–21. Despite this, he managed to maintain his spot in the Test team but was left out of the starting eleven for the opening Test in Adelaide.

Fans and the media harshly condemned Pant during this time. It was common to hear disparaging comparisons to Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni. When Pant erred on the field, the fans would occasionally yell, "Dhoni! Dhoni!"

Despite having a sizable first-inning advantage, India lost the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020–21 by 8 wickets after being bowled out for 36 in the second innings. After that, Rishabh Pant was selected for the second test in Melbourne instead of Wriddhiman Saha.

Pant made a career-altering hit in Sydney, even though he scored 29 in the Melbourne Test's opening innings. On the final day, with 97 overs remaining, he struck a counterattacking 97 runs off just 118 balls and formed a 148-run partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara. In the end, the game was drawn.

Pant was included in the Indian team for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in September 2021. Pant won the title of ICC Men's Test Team of the Year for 2021 at the annual ICC Awards in January 2022. Pant broke Kapil Dev's record in March 2022 by being the first Indian batter to reach a half-century in a Test match during the second match against Sri Lanka. In just 28 deliveries, he reached his half-century mark.

Pant was announced as the Indian team's vice-captain for the India 2022 trip of South Africa in May of that year. But after India's skipper KL Rahul was ruled out of the series with an injury, Pant was anointed the captain a day prior to the first game of the series. Pant led India in a T20I match at the age of twenty-four years and 248 days, making him the second youngest captain in history. Pant scored 125 runs and did not give up during his maiden century in one-day international cricket in July 2022, during the last game of India's tour of England.