India Sizzles – Pant’s On Fire!

I have just returned home after witnessing an amazing batting display by the Indian cricket team.

Batting first on a placid wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground today in the fourth and final test against Australia, India scored a massive 622 for seven before captain Virat Kohli declared the innings closed and put the Australian team out of their misery.

This was the final game of a four test series that India did not really need to win because they had already won two of the first three games, and a draw here would allow them to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. But over these past two days they have dominated the fourth test so effectively that  it is now virtually impossible for them to lose.

If the first day of this test belonged to the reliable Cheteshwar Pujara who scored his third century of the series , ending the first day unbeaten on 130, today belonged to the young wicket-keeper Rishab Pant. Ably keeping Pujara company from the fall of fourth wicket, the 21 year old Pant took over the mantle when Pujara was unluckily caught and bowled by Nathan Lyon when on 193, just second runs away from a double century.

Pant then went on to score an unbeaten 159 (which included 15 boundaries and a sizzling six) thereby becoming the first wicket keeper to score a century against Australia in Australia.

And as we wait for the third day of this test to begin tomorrow, when we can see whether India’s sizzling batting display was merely the result of a placid and docile wicket that even Australia could score heavily on – or whether India’s dominance was a combination of brilliant batting and a lack lustre bowling attack, let us savour the effort of the young wicket-keeper.

It isn’t every day that a journo can write a cricket headline that screams  “Pant’s On Fire”!