IND vs BAN: Rohit Sharma lauds Rishabh Pant for remarkable Test comeback

India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant made a stunning comeback to Test cricket. He missed 16 months of cricket due to multiple injuries suffered following a horrific car accident and made his return to professional cricket during IPL 2024. Since then, he has won the T20 World Cup 2024 and got back to India’s red-ball squad after doing well in the first round of the Duleep Trophy. 

In the first Test against Bangladesh at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Pant played a vital knock of 109 runs in the second innings and helped the hosts post a massive target. Gill supported him well in the middle, with a century of his own and that set the game for India. The Rohit Sharma-led side restricted Bangladesh to 234 runs in the final innings to win the game by 280 runs.

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After the game, Rohit lauded Pant for his extraordinary comeback. The 37-year-old recalled the tough times that the Haridwar-born cricketer went through and mentioned Pant’s contribution during India’s success in the T20 World Cup. He also talked about how Pant played domestic cricket first, which helped him make an impact in the Test team straight away.

“He's been through some really tough times. The way he has managed himself through those tough times was superb to watch. He came back in the IPL, followed by a very successful World Cup and this is the format he loves the most,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

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“For us, it was never about what is he going to do with the bat, we always knew what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well. It was just about giving him the game time. Credit to him as well, he went on to play Duleep Trophy and got ready for this Test match and had an impact straightaway in the game,” he added.

Meanwhile, India have named an unchanged squad for the second Test against Bangladesh, which is slated to begin on September 27 and will be played at Green Park in Kanpur.