A knock to remember: Rishabh Pant’s blistering ton was brilliant and he’s just getting started

Last night, Ian Bishop called him the most fearless and powerful young batsmen he has seen. Sourav Ganguly compared his manic knock to Brendon McCullum’s ton that started it all in 2008, while Virender Sehwag called for the special talent to be nurtured.

The West Indian fast bowler has seen his share of fearless batsmen, while Ganguly has played alongside Sehwag, who was the original fearless power-hitter from Delhi.

But on this night, all the praise was reserved for Rishabh Pant who played one of the best knocks in the history of the Indian Premier League. The 20-year old Delhi batsman scored an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls – in a team total 187 – against the mighty bowling of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

That it ended up in a losing cause, and sealed Delhi Daredevils’ early exit from yet another season, didn’t matter much, because we had witnessed one of the all-time best T20 knocks by an Indian.

Pant was audacious, almost ruthless as he decimated the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan and Siddharth Kaul. The repertoire of shots on offer were as ferocious as they were imaginative and as power-packed to the point of disdainful. No bowler was spared, no variation effective and no part of the ground was safe. Reflex reverse-sweeps, cheeky scoops, powerful flat strokes and even a one-handed, baseball-like maximum. The left-handed Mr 360 was at play.

Early implosion, Late explosion

But what made it even more special was that it came against the best bowling unit this season, a unit that many are calling the best in IPL history

When he came in to bat in the fourth over, and for his first few overs, there was a little inkling that Pant was on the cusp of an extraordinary knock.

In the eight over, he was involved in (yet another) horror run out sending Shreyas Iyer back, when the skipper had scored only 3 off 8. Harshal Patel was sent up the order, instead of the woefully out of form Glenn Maxwell, but the Sunrisers bowlers were tightening the screws, as they usually do.

At the halfway mark, Delhi were 52/3 at with Pant on 23 off 24. This was the time, if Delhi had to set a score worth defending, Pant and Patel had to step. And they did, with 14, 15 and 13 runs coming off the next three overs. Pant reached his 50 in 36 balls and the partnership looked set. Till Pant had yet another partner run out in the 14th over.

Pant now had a lot to make up for now, with 6 overs to go and DD at 98/4.

And then began the one-man show. The next 50 came in only 20 balls as Pant scored his first IPL century.

Delhi smashed 135 off their last 10 overs, with 59 runs off 18 balls Pant faced in the last four overs, becoming the youngest player to score 1000 IPL runs. And 521 of those have come this season for the current Orange Cap holder.

Taking the best bowling lineup apart

But the highlight of his innings was how he all but took apart the two most economical bowlers this season. Bhuvneshwar was carted for 43 runs in just 11 balls, Rashid Khan’s 13 went for 27. The last over from Bhuvi went like this.

19.1: Maxwell is dismissed

19.2 and 19.3: Two ridiculous scoops over third man for four

19.4: A ferocious pull over fine leg

19.5: A one-handed six

19.6: Six over midwicket

He had an answer to whatever Bhuvi threw at him, changing his stance, shuffling and giving himself the space to smash the ball out of the park. In the 18th over, he carted the pacer for 18, moving to 97 off 54 with partnership with Maxwell on 53 off 24, with the Aussie scoring only 4 off them. In the 19th over, he brought up his ton.

The bowler, who has trumped everyone this season, was treated like cannon fodder.

Pant not only made the highest individual score this season, his 128 is also the highest score by an Indian in the IPL. He has the most 4s in tournament, and the joint-highest sixes (equal with MS Dhoni) with a strike rate second to only Andre Russell, who is more than 300 runs behind him.

The future is calling

But there is a lot more to Pant’s knock than the sensational hitting and record statistics.

This is the player who was dropped from the T20I squad for Ireland and England as MS Dhoni returned after getting an experimental run in the Nidahas Trophy. And while he is clearly in the national scheme of things, Pant has not done too well in his four international outings and it is understandable why Dhoni is still the first-choice.

However, Pant is a precocious talent that India need to handle well. He may not be a superb wicketkeeper and has a lot to work on even other than his glove work. (Running between the wickets is high on this list.)

But at the moment, his talent far outshines his flaws and with the right kind of grooming, the 20-year-old could become a match winner par excellence for India. That he is a natural match winner is evident, but the consistency to pull this off in international cricket will only come with time and experience.

As part of the India A limited overs squad to England, he will get a chance to not only hone his skills on unfriendly conditions and bring in a more all-round edge to his game, he will also be working with Rahul Dravid again, who had singled him out as an important player for India a year ago.

“I don’t know if it’s my best knock, but till now it’s one of my best,” a visibly disheartened Pant said after Thursday’s loss.

‘Till now’, is the operative phrase here because Pant is just getting started.