Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Rajendra Pant (born 4 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter.

Having played all formats for India, he is best known for his consistency to score runs in Test cricket.

Pant plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and captains Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.

Rishabh Pant was born on 4 October 1997 in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India to Rajendra Pant and Saroj Pant.

At the age of 12, Pant would travel with his mother to Delhi during the weekends to train with Tarak Sinha at the Sonnet Cricket Academy.

He and his mother stayed at a Gurdwara in Moti Bagh as they did not have suitable accommodation in the city.

Sinha suggested Pant switch to Rajasthan to play U-13 and U-15 cricket but to no avail.

Pant was instructed by his mentor to overhaul his entire batting technique in the hopes of becoming a better batsman.

His turning point came when he was playing U-19 cricket for Delhi against Assam.

Pant had top-scored with 35 in his first innings and then hit 150 in the second innings, which he claims was the most important knock in his career.

His score of 128 also comprised 68.4% of the teams total, making it the 2nd highest percentage of runs by an individual batsmen in an IPL match.

In March 2021, Pant was named the captain of the Delhi Capitals for the 2021 Indian Premier League after the regular captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the entire tournament due to an injury.

He was retained as captain for the 2022 IPL season as well.

Pant made his first-class debut on 22 October 2015 in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy and his List A debut the next month in the 2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

He was the vice-captain of the India U-19 team that was runner up at the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

On 1 February 2016, during the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Pant hit an 18-ball fifty against Nepal, the fastest at this level.

In the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy, while playing a match against Maharashtra, Pant scored 308 runs in an innings, becoming the third-youngest Indian to score a triple century in first-class cricket.

On 8 November 2016, Pant scored the fastest century in the Ranji Trophy, from just 48 balls, in Delhi's match against Jharkhand.

Pant was purchased by the Delhi Daredevils ahead of the 2016 Indian Premier League on the same day he scored a century for India U-19 team in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, guiding them into the semi-finals.

Playing his third game of the season, Pant made 69 runs off 40 balls to help Delhi secure an eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions.

He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for India in January 2017, his Test debut in August 2018, and his One Day International (ODI) debut in October 2018.

Rishabh's father died in April 2017, due to a cardiac arrest.

In February 2017, Pant was named Delhi's captain for the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

He took over from Gautam Gambhir, who led Delhi to the final of the previous season.

Delhi coach Bhaskar Pillai said it was a "consensus decision" to prepare Pant for the future.

In the 2017 season, he scored 97 runs from 43 balls against the same team.

In January 2017, Pant was named in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against England.

He made his debut for India in the third T20I against England at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on 1 February 2017.

Pant was the then youngest player to debut for India in a T20I match at the age of 19 years 120 days.

On 14 January 2018, in the 2017–18 Zonal T20 League match between Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, Pant scored the second-fastest century in a Twenty20 match, making 100 from 32 balls.

During the 2018 Indian Premier League, Pant scored an unbeaten 128 from 63 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, making it the then highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in IPL history.

He also became the second youngest player to score a century in the IPL.

In February 2018, he was named in India's T20I squad for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy.

In July 2018, Pant was named in India's Test squad for the series against England.

He made his Test debut against England on 18 August 2018.

He became the first batter for India to get off the mark in Test cricket with a six in the series.

On 11 September 2018, Pant scored his maiden Test century, against England also becoming the second-youngest wicket-keeper and the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century in England.

In January 2019, Pant was named the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the 2018 ICC Awards.

In February 2021, Pant was named the Men's Player of the Month in the first edition of the ICC Player of the Month Awards.

In June 2022, Pant was named as the Indian captain for the T20I series against South Africa, after the designated captain KL Rahul was ruled of the series due to an injury.