India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant made history in the just-concluded fifth and final Test against England in Birmingham which his team lost by seven wickets on Tuesday. While India failed to win their first series in England in 15 years as the hosts went on to claim a spectacular victory, thanks to unbeaten centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, Rishabh Pant's performance stood out for the South Asian side. En route to his knocks of 146 and 57 in the first and second innings, Rishabh Pant became just the second India wicketkeeper after Farokh Engineer to make a ton and half-century in the same Test.
During his fifty in the second innings, Rishabh Pant broke a 72-year-old record as well. With his scores of 146 and 57, he now holds the record for most runs scored by a visiting team wicketkeeper in a single Test match.
Previously, this record was held by West Indies great Clyde Walcott who had made 14 and 168* in a Test against England at Lord’s in 1950.
In 1973, Farokh Engineer became the first to achieve the feat when he slammed a century and a fifty in the same Test match against England in Mumbai. Farokh Engineer's scores of 121 and 66 respectively came at the Brabourne Stadium against the Three Lions 49 years ago.
Farokh Engineer who now resides in England featured in 46 Tests and 5 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for India. The retired stylish wicketkeeper-batter also believes that Rishabh Pant has transformed into a world-class cricketer and will continue to rule the roost for the next decade or so.
“I am delighted for Rishabh. He is a fantastic cricketer. I thought maybe MS Dhoni would have done it, but I am surprised that it took so long for an Indian wicketkeeper to equal that record,” Farokh Engineer told Sportstar.
“I have always thought of Rishabh as a fabulous batter, and a fabulous young man, even though I have met him only once. He has got the measure and responsibility because earlier, he would throw away his wicket so many times. I used to tell myself, ‘He is so talented, why doesn't he just play the right shot?' He has got such good eyes and is such a good entertainer,” he added.
“I will be there at the ground for the first two ODIs at The Oval and Lord’s later this month and when I see Pant, I will give him a big hug and say, ‘Keep it up! Next time, I want you to score a hundred in each innings'. The way he is going about his business, I am glad that he has been given more responsibility and he certainly is taking his game very seriously,” Farokh Engineer commented.
Farokh Engineer also shared his thoughts about Rishabh Pant's wicketkeeping skills, and as per his analysis, his skills behind the wickets have improved in leaps and bounds. According to him, Rishabh Pant was now an asset to the Rohit Sharma-led side.
“He is such a fine young man and I must say, he has improved a lot in his wicketkeeping as well. Dhoni wasn’t a great wicketkeeper when he started, but look at the way he improved. Similarly, Rishabh is working on his wicketkeeping very hard and I can see that. But as a package, just like Dhoni, Rishabh is a tremendous asset for India, who can score a hundred like that against a good bowling unit,” Farokh Engineer explained.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was equally impressed with Rishabh Pant's growth both as a batter and wicketkeeper. He claimed that he was a potential legend in the making and was on his way to serving Indian cricket for many more years to come.
“He has established himself as a potential great that we are watching. 5 hundreds and just one at home and rest away from home is just incredible. But I want to just talk about his keeping, a lot has been spoken about his batting,” said Sanjay Manjrekar.
“I just love how seriously he has taken that job. Because, after doing well with the bat, you can sometimes ease off. I was a little skeptical about his ability as a keeper, especially in these kind of conditions,” Manjrekar added.
“The big news for India is the growth of Pant the wicketkeeper. You don't see him chattering much around the stumps. He has taken the job very seriously, and his improvement has been remarkable, just like Dhoni,” the noted cricket commentator summed up.
Rishabh Pant's heroics in Birmingham earned him the moniker of India's best-ever wicket-keeper batter in ‘Tests' from former India opener Aakash Chopra.
“Rishabh Pant is India's best ever wicket-keeper batter in ‘Tests' …and he's not even 25 yet. The number of Test match-defining innings he's played in just 30 matches is simply sensational,” Aakash Chopra said on Twitter.