“Defence is attack”: Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali compares Rishabh Pant to India’s legendary opener

After being involved in a life-threatening accident in December 2022, Pant's return to the Test format for India has begun in stunning fashion.

After his promising knock ended at 39 in the first innings, he gave it his all and raised his bat to celebrate his magnificent century in the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chennai.

Basit compared Pant and Sehwag after witnessing the left-hander's blitzkrieg against Bangladesh, pointing out that both batsmen used attack as a method of defence in the longest format of cricket.

“In India, there are two batsmen. The second is Rishabh Pant. The first was Virender Sehwag, whose defence was attacking. He always went for the boundary on the first ball. Then came Rishabh Pant, whose defence is attacking. He plays shots and played well against Bangladesh. He won hearts,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.

On the third day, Pant relied heavily on his aggressive strokeplay to score runs on the soft surface of the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

With Shubman Gill on the other side, the duo forged a 167-run partnership that took India to a mammoth target of 515 runs.

As Pant hit a double and began to celebrate his century, India's star Virat Kohli stood up and applauded him for his remarkable performance.

Pant pulled off his 109-run knock by mixing his front-foot and back-foot game. To deal with the spinners, he relied mainly on his back-foot game, buying time and picking the gaps at his convenience.

On a few occasions, he came down the track aggressively and used the surface to his advantage. In the 53rd over, he came down the track and hit a half-volley to free Shakib Al Hasan from the boundary line.

His impressive innings of 13 fours and four delicious sixes was ended by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. He threw the ball back to the Bangladeshi spinner, ending his sensational performance. He walked back to the applause of the crowd and blew a kiss to the sky.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.