Yesterday, #RishabhPant became the hero in Australia, hitting a swashbuckling 97 in a saving cause. However, he could have catapulted all his heroes – Sachin, Dravid, Gavaskar & to become a superhero.
But, he failed. How big was the opportunity?
India was back to the wall & had to bat out all day to save the test. And thanks to fighting innings from Pant, Pujara, Vihari and Ashwin, we did, playing out the longest 4th innings in the last 40 years.
However, Pant could have made it bigger by winning the match for us.
It was his innings which took the fight to Australians & put them in the backfoot creating a spread-out field. With tiring bowlers, a score of 157 with a run rate of under 3 was well within grasp.
If he had made us win, he would have been the first to hit a 4th innings century in Australia on a winning cause. The current best is Dravid’s 72 in the famous 2011 Adelaide win where he made 233 in the 1st innings.
He had already ridden his luck with 2 dropped chances to reach 97. Call it lack of match awareness or inflexibility he took one risk too many by going for yet another six & spoiled India’s chances of a famous win.
I may be expecting too much from a 23-year-old, but such opportunities come once in a lifetime.
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