Rishabh Pant has admitted that India’s tour of Australia in the 2020-21 season was a “changing moment” in his life. As an injured wicketkeeper-batsman, the 24-year-old batsman produced two of his greatest innings in the final two Tests of that epic series in Sydney and Brisbane. Team India, led by Ajinkya Rahane, pulled off a stunning comeback victory. Pant made a magnificent, counter-attacking 97 in the second innings in Sydney, despite receiving a painkiller injection after being hit on the elbow on Day III of that Test. It was essential for India to salvage a draw. Pant then hit 89 not out on the final day of the Test in Brisbane, as India chased down 328 to win the Test and seal up the series.
“I was perplexed and also afraid after getting hit (on the elbow during the first innings). There was Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, and they would be bowling a lot faster,” said Pant. Pant’s situation wasn’t perfect, though, as he was dropped from India’s limited-overs team before being recalled for the 2019 50-overs World Cup in the United Kingdom. Pant reflected on that period, saying, “I wasn’t talking to anyone, not even family or friends. I required my own personal place.” “All I wanted to do was give it my all every day.” “I was thinking, ‘What’s going to happen now?'” he said, describing it as the lowest point of his life. “That was one of the darkest periods of my life mentally. ‘What now?’ I wondered.”
Pant further on that period, saying, “The only notion that came to me was that you maintain putting in your hard work every day, no matter what occurs.” “You give your all, and we’ll accept the outcome, no matter what happens. I was just convincing myself that I didn’t have an option but to go ahead and do it.”
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