Rishabh Pant entered record books on the opening day of the 1st Test between India and Australia in Perth on Friday. Pant hit a crucial 37-run knock to propel India to 150 following a top-order collapse at the Optus Stadium. With his knock, Pant became the first player in history to score 2,000 runs as a wicketkeeper in the World Test Championship (WTC). He currently has 2,034 runs and is closely followed by Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, who is currently on 1,930 runs, among wicketkeepers.
Meanwhile, England’s Joe Root leads the all-time list of run-scorers in WTC, having scored 5,325 runs in 61 matches. Pant is third highest run-getter for India behind veteran Rohit Sharma (2,685) and Virat Kohli (2,432), respectively.
Pant’s remarkable achievement came as India mounted a spirited fightback after being all out for 150. Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy top-scored for India with a well-made 41 and shared a crucial partnership with Pant.
Nitish made an impressive 41 off 59 balls that lent a semblance of respectability to India’s overall poor batting effort that yielded 150 in their first innings here at the Optus Stadium.
“I heard a lot about the Perth wicket. There was a bit of nervousness. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was talking about the bounce on Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam sir after our last practice session,” Nitish told reporters during the post-day press meet.
“He was mentioning that ‘when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet for your country’. That just boosted me. When he said that I felt that I needed to take the bullet for the country. That’s the best thing I have heard from Gautam sir,” he added.
(With IANS Inputs)
