3rd Test: Promotion of Rishabh Pant was a masterstroke

Rishabh Pant en route his 97 against Australia on Day Five of the third Test at Sydney on Monday. Pic/AFP

What an incredible Test match concluded at the SCG on Monday! The records will show a draw as well as an incredibly slow crawl from Hanuma Vihari, but the resolve and skill the youngster showed in the face of injury, to save his team from a defeat was truly memorable. He may notch big scores in the future, but his vigil on Monday afternoon will always be a special memory for the young man.

My natural inclination is to start with the masterstroke of sending Rishabh Pant in when the third wicket fell. From what followed, it seemed like the Australians were surprised by his promotion and the way he played.

Pant's injury in the first innings seemed pretty serious when it took place, and it was great courage from the youngster to come out all guns blazing to launch a counter-attack that surprised the opposition.

Special innings

Pant is always under a great deal of scrutiny when he plays, which makes his innings all the more special. That partnership was easy on the eye and Pant constructed his innings well, rode his luck with flair and laid the foundation of what might have been an incredible run chase. It was heartbreaking to see him miss out on a century that he deserved, and if he had stayed on for a few more overs, things might have been very different.

From an Australian point of view, getting just three wickets on the final day must be a very disappointing statistic. The ball had kept low on the third day and the general feeling was that the pitch would be very difficult to bat on, on the final day. That does not take away, however, from the skill and technique of Cheteshwar Pujara and Pant. The former was due in this Test match and it took two incredible balls, particularly the one from Josh Hazlewood in the second innings, to
dismiss him. The sour note that was struck in this Test match was in the form of racial abuse against the Indians.

Racism incident was sad

This is something that saddens every cricket lover, and it is upsetting when a handful of misguided individuals give a whole city a bad name. This Indian cricket team have a lot of goodwill and their players are very popular in Australia. I hope the incident is the last one we have to witness because cricket has been so high-quality that it is only fair to focus on the Tests.

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