Rishabh Pant’s defiant assault ignites a day that had everything

Rishabh Pant’s day began with him flapping comically at a stumping chance, showing the kind of technique that would move an old wicketkeeping craftsman to tears — of laughter and pain. By mid-afternoon, in one of most thrilling counterattacks imaginable, he was flaying the ball to all parts of the old Chepauk stadium — just another day in the life of a young showman for whom the words caution and carefulness, and sometimes catching, do not apply.

It was only little more than a fortnight ago that Pant, the 23-year old wicketkeeper-batsman from the foothills of the Himalayas, was carrying the tricolour around the Gabba, having spirited India to a memorable victory against the odds. He did it, then, with a smile on his face