Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Rishabh Pant unshackles himself to hit fastest T20 century by Indian

Little over a week ago, Delhi’s selection panel got into a huddle to take stock of the Ranji season. Barring the team’s grossly calamitous show in the summit clash against Vidarbha, there were sparkling performances all-round, and the selectors were vindicated by their out-of-the-blue, yet inspired picks. However, the batting form of their 20-year-old captain, Rishabh Pant, was an area of concern. With 315 runs, the panel believed the weight of captaincy was taking a toll on one of India’s brightest young talents.

“Free hoke nahi khel raha tha,” a selector noted. After intense deliberation, Pant was relieved from the leadership role for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. In hindsight, the move proved to be a masterstroke. Unencumbered and refreshed, Pant looked like he was getting back into his groove.

Opening the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir, gave him the license to unleash and assert himself. He had scores of 38, 9 and 51 in the opening three fixtures – the first and the third knock coming at a strike rate of over 150. There was this feeling that a big knock was just around the corner.

On his home turf, the fabled Ferozshah Kotla, Pant finally woke up from the season-long slumber to slam the second quickest century in T20s — his first in this format and the fastest by an Indian. At one stage, he looked like bettering Chris Gayle’s record (the Jamaican had brought up his century in 30 deliveries during 2013 edition of IPL ). In the end, he would take two deliveries more to reach the coveted landmark.

Delhi’s wicket-keeper is not new to landmarks. Last year, he had notched up a 48-ball 100, the fastest century in a first-class game. He finished on 116 not out off 38 balls — a strike rate of 305. “I felt good about it when I came to know, you always do, when that happens. Last season too, I had scored the fastest first-class hundred in India and then this year in a T20 game; so yes, it feels good to see your name in the record books. But one doesn’t play for records. I try to perform and while doing that records happen…. like Virat bhai keeps scoring (I try to do the same),” he said in an interview to the bcci.tv.

The stroke-play was pulsating and thrilling in equal measure and it brought Kotla to life on a drowsy wintery afternoon. On a placid track and against a docile Himachal Pradesh bowling attack, Pant made merry, bludgeoning runs with ease. What stood out was his innate ability to clear the boundaries almost at will. In pursuit of Himachal’s 144, Pant and Gambhir overhauled the target with more than eight over to spare, and helped Delhi register a comprehensive win.

Watching Pant’s blitzkrieg vindicated Atul Wassan’s decision to free the youngster from the burden of captaincy. “I am happy for him. He is one of the cleanest hitters in Indian cricket today. The only issue is that he does not have the finesse of a Virat (Kohli) or MS Dhoni. He played some spectacular shots today and cleared boundaries at will. Too bad that he could not play the way he did in the Ranji Trophy, or else he would have been in the Indian team now,” Wassan said, and added that despite being removed as Delhi captain, the wicket-keeper batsman was integral to the team’s long-term plans.

“Look, a lot has been written about that issue (Rishabh’ captaincy). Last year, when he was scoring runs, he was confident and that rubbed off on his captaincy. This season, though, he was clearly burdened by the additional responsibility. You have to understand that it’s not easy being a 20-year-old and being asked to lead a side that has senior players like Gautam Gambhir.”

Despite Wassan’s claims, Pant’s resounding knock was not a simple open-and-shut case. Over the course of his tepid run in this Ranji season, there were some technical flaws that had crept into his batting. In a bid to iron out these deficiencies, he sought the help of childhood coach Tarak Sinha.

“He has been playing a lot of cross-batted shots recently, especially towards the mid-wicket region, and this had brought about his downfall. He came to me before this game, and we had a long chat. I told him to just play straight, and stop playing across the line. Today, he took a conscious decision to play straighter. Out of his 12 sixes, 10 have come in the long-off and long-on region,” an elated coach said.