Rishabh Pant smashes India's fastest fifty against New Zealand; Ravi Shastri says, “Players like Richards, Kapil, Sehwag…”

Rishabh Pant produced a brilliant counter-attack under pressure to get India back on track on the second day of the third and final Test against New Zealand. He scored 60 off just 59 deliveries and his electrifying batting drew comparisons to some of the legendary batsmen including Vivian Richards and Virender Sehwag.

During his commentary, India's former head coach Ravi Shastri, who has worked with Pant in the past, stated that Pant has the reputation that the above-mentioned former cricketers had when they came to bat.

“He was 1 overnight and has already surpassed (Shubman) Gill. The thing about Pant is that he has a bit of a reputation – he's known for destroying bowling attacks – and when that's the case, the bowlers think, 'If I'm even remotely misunderstanding, him.' “Will blow my mind.” The people who had such a reputation included Viv Richards, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham,” Shastri said on television.

“I adopted a few names. Virender Sehwag also played this type of cricket.”

The wicketkeeper-batter reached the crease at a precarious time when the side was reeling at 85/4 in the first innings; The side had lost three wickets in two overs when Pant came to bat and was tasked with getting through the opening game without further losses.

Pant power on the second day

Pant played just one ball and took a single to cap off the day, but unleashed his explosive best in the morning session on day two at the Wankhede Stadium. The 26-year-old batsman cleaned up the New Zealand bowlers and became the fastest Indian to score a half-century against the team in Test history (36 deliveries). Pant was particularly targeting Ajaz Patel, who had threatened the Indian batting order in the final minutes of the first day.

His aggressive batting ensured that the Kiwis were forced to remove Ajaz from the attack, who conceded more than 6 RPO, albeit with two wickets to show for it. While Shubman Gill took a more cautious approach, Pant took over the run-scoring and found boundaries with relative ease before falling to 60 in just 59 deliveries.