-Boria Majumdar in Leeds
Rishabh Pant in red-ball cricket has always been special. In fact, may I say, we have time and again written about it. Now with seven hundreds, he has the maximum number of centuries by a wicketkeeper-batter for India. More importantly, he has most of his hundreds in SENA countries and is one who is well and truly a red ball great of this generation. Here, the southpaw surpasses MS Dhoni, who had six Test tons.
In Headingley, Pant played what has been an exceptional innings. Coming in at the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal, India needed a partnership to cement their hold on the game. Shubman Gill was set and his deputy needed to play within himself and not swing from ball one. Restraint was the need of the hour with Ben Stokes setting traps for him. Pant, after an early charge to Stokes, did exactly that. He decided to grind down. He played and missed on occasions but never gave up. Yes, there was the occasional attempt at a reverse flick over third man or a heave over long-on but they were few and far between. And each time he played a false shot, you could see him admonish himself and re-focus. He was putting a price on his wicket and that was great to see.
Against Shoaib Bashir the trap was set. There was a long-on and a mid-wicket. Pant did take him on and dispatched him into the crowd. It was as if Bashir was waiting for it. He fired the next one in fast, expecting Pant to try it again. The little man just let the ball go to the keeper and smiled. He had won the battle in the mind.
This morning he has been fantastic. Not ruffled by the new ball. Between him and his skipper, they have guided India to a position from where they wouldn’t lose this game. With rain round the corner, bowling will become easier here and England will find it hard.
How much the hundred meant to him was evident from the way he reacted after getting there. It was relief and excitement combined into one. He needed this, for himself and for his team. He needed it as much for his detractors.
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Photo courtesy: Debasis Sen.
If you see social media, you will see a section of people, and some of them almost everyday, abusing Pant and getting away with it. It is as if this is their only job. Each time he fails, the trolls become hyperactive. The truth is these people want him to fail to start their abuse and that’s where we can find a pattern. It is unmitigated abuse and goes against the grain of every kind of fandom. While I have mentioned Pant, you can add multiple other names to this, including Gill.
The trolls forget that in sport you will lose far more than you will win and more so in overseas conditions. That’s how sport is and will always be.
With social media, it is all a blur. Even before you know it, faceless trolls are all over you. They heap abuse on you knowing you can’t do anything about it because they are faceless and will never come out in the open. They are like an invisible virus. Just like the world found it impossible to deal with Covid because the virus was invisible and faceless, so also the social media trolls who have no ethics or dignity. To respond to trolls is to dignify them. But what they do is they try to get into your mind. Try and push you to make mistakes and respond. Every provocation is an attempt to solicit a response. And with Pant, the trolls have done their best to draw him out of his comfort zone.
Only it has made him more determined and more resilient. As vice-captain, he now has a leadership role and this hundred can only help him get better in this series.
Pant, in failure, has sought redemption. Each time he failed in the IPL, he tended to try harder. For the first time in his career he was seeing a slump as poor. He couldn’t score and it was deeply painful for him. For a proud performer, it could have impacted his mental health. But then, that’s what sport does. It challenges you, pushes you to the brink. Tests you at every level.
Pant has seen challenges and has overcome them. This was another. England was his opportunity. To do it for India and do it for himself. A one-handed six to get to his century, he has answered every question and ticked every box. He isIndia’s best wicketkeeper-batter ever in red-ball cricket. No one, yes no one, comes close.
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