Pant doing what Pant does best

ON the evidence of the Indian Premier League's first month, Rishabh Pant will be on the flight when India departs for the T20 World Cup late next month.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

The wicketkeeper-batter, who survived a horrific car crash before undertaking a painstaking rehab spanning the entirety of 2023, has lost none of his mojo, be it behind the stumps or in front.

If the first eight matches were a glimpse of Pant from 2022 and beyond, his ninth, against Gujarat Titans, was the full-length film. It was the Pant vast swathes of the cricketing public had fallen in love with. It was the Pant whose devil-maycare strokeplay had brought with it a sense of hedonism that grated some of the purists. It was, in short, liquid Pant. Deja vu and jamais vu at the same time.

He played some of his greatest hits as the visiting bowlers wilted in the face of a thrilling late assault. In the end, he finished with a 43-ball 88 to help Delhi finish with 224.