Rishabh Pant: Heart of a Lion, Eye of the Tiger, Crazy as a Fox!

The winning runs off Rishabh Pant's bat in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) against England at Old Trafford in Manchester probably summed up the innings for millions of southpaw fans around the world like me. Pant decided to have some fun with only three runs to get in eight overs. The left-hander went down on one knee to smash the ball past the short third-man fan, securing India's famous series victory.

Pant played a reverse-sweep, the same shot that cost him the 5th Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham not long ago, prompting head coach Rahul Dravid to accept that the southpaw's game is such that he will play shots that he shouldn't under certain circumstances, but that's how the maverick left-hander plays. He likes to keep everyone involved in the game, on the edge of their seats and with their hearts in their mouth.

Had Pant been out to the same shot, it would have provided fodder for his critics, but given the explosive left-style hander's of play, he wouldn't have given it a second thought and would have played the same shot the next time he arrived on the crease for India across formats.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/@stLogesh)

The reverse sweep in Manchester, on the other hand, brought smiles, cheers, and joy to the faces of Indian cricket team members, fans, and, of course, the man himself. Soon after hitting the winning shot, Pant looked up to make eye contact with his captain, Rohit Sharma. The left-hander probably gave his skipper a thumbs-up out of relief and satisfaction, and the latter responded with a similar gesture and a huge smile on his face.

The Finish was more important than the Ton

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According to legendary MS Dhoni's cricket theory, no individual score or bag of wickets is worth anything if the team does not benefit from it. The most satisfying aspect of the Manchester ODI for me was seeing Pant walk back to the pavilion with an unbeaten score against his name. It didn't matter if it was an unbeaten 125 or even a 25, what mattered was that he was there until the end, carrying the team over the finish line. That, in my opinion, is the key distinction between the Pant of 2019 and the Pant of 2022.

Remember the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the same venue, when the same Pant played a rather irresponsible shot to get out at a time when he shouldn't have, and India was knocked out of the tournament despite being the overwhelming favourites.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/@RCBTweets)

Cut to 2022 in Manchester, and the same Pant is playing with a lot more maturity, likely due to the experience gained over the last three years and spending a lot of time off the field with Dhoni, which has probably made him understand his game better, and the results are simply following.

"Hopefully I remember (this knock) for the rest of my life. I was focusing on one ball at a time when I was batting. When your team is under pressure and you bat like that .. something I aspire to do." Pant said in the post-match presentation in Manchester.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/@BCCI)

Pant's ton was obviously special, as it was his first in 50-over cricket, and hopefully, it is just the beginning of many more in the coming years. Not to diminish his performance, but even the 24-year-old would admit that he was a little subdued up front, owing to Hardik Pandya initially taking on the bowlers, and India, too, needed a partnership at the time to stage a comeback in the game.

Pant was not about to let the England bowlers off the hook after Pandya was dismissed and he had his eye in. The fact that he smashed 21 runs off David Wiley's over in the 42nd over demonstrates his mindset as a batsman and how quickly he can shift gears and stun the opposition.

Batting at number four in the Manchester ODI, with the top order falling cheaply, gave Pant the opportunity to play a long innings. One more wicket at the time, and England's bowlers, along with England Captain Jos Buttler, would have dreamed of repeating their heroics a few days earlier at Lord's, where they hammered the visitors by a 100-run margin. Unfortunately for England, a tenacious Rishabh Pant stood in their way.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/@sunrisershyderabad)

Rishabh Pant's dominance in Manchester can be told through an innings laced with 16 glorious boundaries and two sixes. An innings like that can easily deflate the morale of the entire team, and that is the Southpaw's USP.

Pant is not the type to make run-making look like a marathon. That is something Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane should do. He's cut from a different cloth, and he's an entertainer like Sir Viv Richards, Adam Gilchrist, or even Brendon McCullum. By no means am I attempting to compare Pant to these greats just yet, but the way he is progressing, he is expected to catch up in terms of both numbers and the legacy of the aforementioned greats.

What you can't expect Pant to do is play a Hashim Amla, Rohit Sharma, or even Virat Kohli-style knock. When expectations or comparisons are placed on Pant, he becomes half the cricketer he showed glimpses of in Manchester on Sunday. Pant needs a clear plan to succeed, and his communication is also straightforward—yes or no. There are no middle ground options. That is what distinguishes him as a cricketer. If you try to clog his mind, the chances of him succeeding become less, and failure increases.

Pant, on the other hand, has produced results when given the freedom to play the way he knows best. The unbeaten 89 against Australia in Brisbane in January 2021 remains the most memorable performance to date. Test hundreds in England, Australia, and South Africa over the last three years demonstrate the left-mental hander's tenacity, grit, determination, and perseverance in red-ball cricket.

(Photo Credit: Twitter/@ESPNcricinfo)

Pant has shown tremendous improvement in both scoring consistent runs and winning matches for India in white-ball cricket since the 2019 World Cup. Remember that Pant bats at number 5, 6, or even lower, and that consistency in international cricket is nearly impossible to achieve when the game is on the line. What one can do is win games with small but valuable contributions, which Pant has done for the past three years.

With the monkey off his back, and a maiden ODI ton coming in the all-important decider against England in England, the Delhi-born cricketer should be full of confidence heading into the second half of the season, in which India aims to win ICC trophies for the first time since the 2013 Champions Trophy, which also took place on English soil under MS Dhoni's leadership.

To win big games and tournaments, a team needs an X-factor, and no one fits the bill better than Rishabh Pant for the Blues. Yes, you might see an irresponsible shot from the left-hander in his next international match. That may drive you insane, and you may find yourself tearing your hair out while sitting on your couch. But then there are days like today in Manchester when you become the center of attention. In the coming days, Indian cricket will be hoping for many more Super Sundays like the one in Manchester, with a smiling Pant walking off the field with a match-winning knock under his belt, leading India to an unforgettable victory.

As long as you are batting in the middle, Rishabh, keep hammering the bowlers, be a maverick for all your supporters, and play unconventional strokes to keep everyone on the edge of their seats and gasping for air.

Well played, Rishabh Pant! You made India proud in Manchester.

(The author has a lot of expertise in creating sports content for television and other digital platforms. He has been following Indian cricket for the past 15 years.)