Virender Sehwag, a former India opener, has said that if wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant manages to play 100 Tests, his name will go down in cricket history. Pant has been Team India’s first-choice wicketkeeper since the 2020-21 Australia series.
In the last 15 months, the Delhi cricketer has established himself as one of India’s top Test batters. In January 2021, the youngster scored a match-saving 97 in the SCG Test against Australia, followed by a match-winning unbeaten 89 at the Gabba, which not only helped the Men in Blue win the series but also back-to-back Test series victories in Australia.
Virender Sehwag on Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant‘s red-ball career has gotten off to a good start. Pant has a total of 1920 runs in 30 Tests, with the highest score of 159*. He’s also improved as a wicketkeeper, with 11 stumpings in his Test career so far.
“If he (Pant) goes on to play 100+ Tests, his name would be etched in the history books forever. Only 11 Indian cricketers have achieved this feat, and everyone can recall those 11 names,” Sehwag said.
The instant gratification of matches won in T20Is and ODIs are fine but in the long run, people only remember what you have done in a white jersey,” he added.
Pant holds the record of being the only Indian wicketkeeper to score centuries in Test matches played in Australia, England, and South Africa.
When India visits the United Kingdom in July for the rescheduled fifth and final Test match against England, with India leading the series 2-1, a lot will be expected of him.
Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag is the first Indian to score a triple century in a Test match. In fact, he has two triple hundreds to his credit and could have had a third had it not been for a soft dismissal in the Mumbai Test against Sri Lanka in December 2009, when he gave spinner Muttiah Muralitharan a return catch while playing a defensive shot on 293.
