Rishabh Pant scored 61 off 47 balls, including nine fours and two maximums, to be the day’s highlight.
On Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy match against India A in Bengaluru, India B player Rishabh Pant produced an outstanding performance with the bat. Pant, who scored only seven runs in the first innings, hit a 34-ball half-century in the second to help India B extend their lead over India A. India B (321) had gained a 90-run lead in the first innings after bowling India A out for 231. Pant, one of India’s Test prospects for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, struck nine fours and two maximums and was the day’s highest scorer with 61 from 47 balls.Apart from setting the stage on fire with his hitting, Pant was also busy with his glove work behind the stumps. In reality, he was active in the plan formulation.
While Abhimanyu Easwaran is India B’s captain, Pant was actively instructing the bowlers on what and where to bowl.
Former India opener WV Raman, who was in the commentary box, lauded Pant for demonstrating his leadership abilities.
“It doesn’t matter who the captain is. Rishabh Pant has always been a field leader. The conversation he had during the break… “He suggested a few things to Saini, and it appears to have worked,” Raman was heard saying on air.
Meanwhile, Pant helped India B expand their advantage to 240 runs over India A at stumps.
On a day that saw 14 wickets fall, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar guided India B to a 90-run first-innings advantage after bowling out India A for 231 in 72.4 overs. In their second innings, India B rapidly lost three wickets, two of which were taken by Akashdeep.
Under duress, Pant put up a stand of 72 runs off 55 balls for the fourth wicket with Sarfaraz Khan (46 off 36 balls) and went on to score his first fifty since returning to red-ball cricket. However, with him and Nitish Kumar Reddy collapsing in the final 30 minutes, India A had reason to grin, despite the fact that India B now had a significant advantage.
