Watch: Rishabh Pant fails in his first red-ball game in 20 months

Playing his first red-ball game in nearly 20 months, Rishabh Pant got out for just 7 on day one of the Duleep Trophy 2024. The wicketkeeper-batter, playing for India B, got out to Akash Deep, trying to smash him down the ground with the ball hitting the toe end of his bat. 

Walking out to bat No. 5, Pant got a juicy full-toss from Avesh Khan straightaway and got off the mark with a thumping boundary. The left-hander kept playing his shots and was even beaten on a couple of occasions. 

His stay came to an end in the 36th over when he tried to whip Akash Deep’s length delivery straight down the ground but ended up getting a leading edge towards the mid-off region. India A captain, Shubman Gill, ran back and dived to complete a sharp catch. 

Akash Deep didn’t stop there. The right-arm paceman got his first wicket because of the mistake Pant committed, however, on the very next delivery, he produced a screamer. He got one to pitch on the middle-stump line and it moved just a bit to hit the top of the off-stump, leaving Nitish Kumar Reddy gobsmacked.

Having successfully made his way back into both the T20 and 50-over cricket, Pant’s red-ball return wasn’t too great. But no matter what he does in this game, there is no question that Pant will walk right back into the Test squad for the two-Test series against Bangladesh, starting on September 19. 

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