Rishabh Rajendra Pant, better known as Rishabh Pant is one of the most important players for the Indian cricket team as they move forward in a phase where they'll be looking for new leaders. The explosive left-handed batsman needs no introduction, as he has proved the mettle of his batting skills in almost every format of the game.
Rishabh Pant has performed impressively in ODIs and T20s, but Test cricket is his favourite format. The way he consistently makes runs in Test cricket is something which is quite rare to find in today's generation, which is why Rishabh Pant is a vital player for team India.
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Uttarakhand-born cricketer, Rishabh Pant has numerous records in Tests, such as most dismissals in a Test match (11), 10th most nineties in Test cricket (6), 300 runs and 15 wicketkeeping dismissals in a series, and the list goes on.
So far in his cricket career, Rishabh Pant has made 2271 runs in Tests, 865 in ODIs, 987 in T20s, and 2884 in IPL. Everyone knows that Rishabh is the captain of the IPL's team, Delhi Capitals, but only a few are aware of the struggle he faced to reach this point. Today, we are going to take a look at it. So, without further ado, let's get straight into it!
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Rishabh Pant was born on October 4, 1997, to his parents, Rajendra Pant and Saroj Pant. Right from an early age, he was interested in cricket and it was his father, who had seen glimpses of his son's massive potential. As a result, the doting father decided to support his son in playing cricket. When Rishabh Pant was just 12, his parents learnt about a Talent Hunt Programme, which was conducted by Sonet Club coach, Tarak Sinha.
As soon as Rajendra Pant got to know about the talent hunt, he sent his son, Rishabh Pant, along with his wife, Saroj Pant to Delhi. The mother-son duo came to Delhi from Roorkee, and everything changed when Rishabh was selected for the programme. However, once he got selected, Rishabh and his mother used to come to Delhi from Roorkee every Saturday for his training. But because they were not financially sound back then, the mother-son duo used to live at Delhi's Moti Bagh Gurudwara.
Rishabh Pant and his mother, Saroj Pant did this for months before Tarak Sinha decided to give a room to Rishabh Pant at the academy, courtesy of the youngster's dedication. Once, in an old interview with Star Sports, Rishabh Pant admitted that he and his mother had eaten and stayed at the gurudwara for a long time. However, in the latter months, he started staying in a gaming parlour while his mother continued participating in seva. It was a tough time for not just Rishabh but for his mother, as she was also struggling both mentally and physically in an unknown state.
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Due to immense competition to be a part of Delhi's team, Rishabh Pant's coach, Tarak Sinha advised him to go to Rajasthan and try to get into their team. The youngster moved to Rajasthan and made his mark with a series of exceptional innings in the Under-14 and Under-16 level tournaments, but because he was an outsider, he was not selected for the state team.
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After facing a lot of criticism for being an outsider, Rishabh Pant returned to Delhi and started playing domestic cricket. It was when the Under-19 selectors picked him, and he repaid their faith in him by scoring the fastest half-century and became an overnight sensation. For the unversed, Rishabh completed his half-century in just 18 balls in India's match against Nepal on February 1, 2016. Since then, he has never looked back and is currently one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world.
On December 30, 2022, Rishabh Pant was travelling to his hometown, Roorkee, Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, the cricketer dozed off while driving on the highway, and his BMW car collided with a divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. The crash was such severe that Rishabh Pant was rushed straight to the hospital.
After a toiling recovery phase that went on for the next 15 months, he made his comeback against Punjab Kings as Delhi Capitals captain on March 23, 2024. The cricketer hit just 18 runs in 13 bowls, but it was an emotional moment for every cricket fan to see him play, as there was a point when it was not clear whether he would be playing cricket again.
According to a report in the Financial Express, despite Rishabh Pant's car accident in 2022 and his break from cricket, he was granted an A-grade central contract from BCCI worth Rs. 5 crore for the 2022-2023 season. However, in the latest contract cycle, the cricketer was handed a Rs. 3 crore contract. Apart from his contract with BCCI, Rishabh Pant also earns Rs. 15 lakhs per Test match, Rs. 3 lakh per T20I, and Rs. 6 lakh per ODI.
Talking about Rishabh Pant's earnings from the Indian Premier League (IPL), he was appointed as the captain of Delhi Capitals back in 2022. For the unversed, he made his IPL debut with Delhi Daredevils (now known as Delhi Capitals) back in 2015, and since then, he has been loyal to them despite not winning a single IPL title. Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals' best run was in 2020, when they reached to the final against Mumbai Indians and lost it by five wickets.
It's fair to say that Rishabh Pant's journey with Delhi Capitals has been a rollercoaster ride, but there's no denying in saying that he has earned a lot of money through IPL. His current IPL salary is estimated to be around the whopping sum of Rs. 16 crores. However, his total earnings from IPL have exceeded the mark of Rs. 74 crore. Apart from cricket, Rishabh Pant also does many brand endorsements, and all these income streams have taken his net worth to an estimated sum of Rs. 100 crores.
There's no denying in saying that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of Indian cricket, which was why there was a big question mark in everyone's mind as to who will be his successor. Luckily, back on April 27, 2016, Rishabh Pant made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Gujarat Lions in the colours of Delhi Daredevils (now known as Delhi Capitals). Since then, he has not only assured fans and critics that he will be the successor of MS Dhoni but has also cemented his status as one of the key players in the Indian cricket team.
For the unversed, Rishabh Pant has already broken three major records of former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, which speaks volumes about his skills and consistency. Within the first four years of his Test debut, Rishabh stunned the cricket world when he broke Mahendra Singh Dhoni's record of 100 dismissals in Test cricket and became the quickest Indian to do so. While Dhoni took 36 games to complete 100 dismissals, Rishabh Pant broke his record in just 26 games.
Rishabh Pant broke another major record of MS Dhoni back in July 2022 in India's match against England. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit a sensational century against England in just 89 balls. He broke MS Dhoni's 16-year record of hitting fastest century by an Indian wicketkeeper. For the unversed, Dhoni completed his century in 93 balls, and it was his fastest century in Test cricket, but Rishabh Pant broke his record.
It will be interesting to see whether Rishabh Pant continues to live up to everyone's expectations and his potential as a series of major tournaments are on the way. In the coming years, Rishabh Pant will either cement his legacy as MS Dhoni's rightful successor or join the league of wicketkeepers who couldn't surpass him.
What are your thoughts on Rishabh Pant's cricket career so far? Do you think he can become MS Dhoni's rightful heir? Let us know.
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