Former India cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri heaped praise on Rishabh Pant for his wicketkeeping in the T20 World Cup, dubbing it as the surprise that no one expected. The southpaw made his international return at the marquee event after being on the sidelines since December 2022 owing to a horrific car accident. Shastri credited Pant for recovering well from a career-ending accident to be able to keep extraordinarily in the T20 WC.
Ravi Shastri is all praise for Rishabh Pant’s keeping
“He did his job with the bat, but it was his keeping that really surprised everyone. For someone to recover that quickly and then move the way he did. He hardly missed anything, albeit he must have felt the pressure as the tournament got on because it’s not easy to come back and do all the stuff he did,” Shastri told ICC.
Although one had gotten glimpses of Pant’s ability to bounce back from injury to being a fir keeper during the IPL, he really stole the show at the T20 WC, where it mattered the most for India.
After a horrific car crash in December 2022, Pant spent quite a lot of time recovering from the various injuries he had sustained. He spent months at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), recovering with the assistance of VVS Laxman and the support staff.
Pant raced against time to be fit for IPL 2024 where he made his unbelievable comeback. He then went on to be a part of the T20 World Cup 2024 winning Indian side, faring well with the bat but his glove work doing most of the talking.
