New Delhi: India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will bring up his 50th Test appearance when the hosts face Afghanistan in a one off match starting in New Chandigarh on Saturday, with Devender Sharma, his childhood coach at Sonnet Club, calling the milestone ‘a very big deal,’ while adding that his recent IPL struggles do not necessarily define him in red-ball cricket.
Before Pant, only MS Dhoni and Syed Kirmani are the only wicketkeeper-batters to have played more than 50 Tests for India. But the past few weeks have been a turbulent one for Pant, after making only 312 runs in 14 games for Lucknow Super Giants, who finished at the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table, he was let go of as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team and left out of the ODI team for the three-game series against Afghanistan.
“This is a very big milestone for him. To be on the verge of playing his 50th Test match as a wicketkeeper-batter for India is a very huge thing for Rishabh. One must remember that IPL is a white-ball tournament, while Test cricket is played with a red ball, which makes both formats different.
“We all know that Rishabh is a champion player in red-ball cricket. On the last overseas tour of India, which was in England, he scored twin tons in Leeds and despite sustaining the foot fracture, he came to bat and hit a fifty for India. But playing the 50th Test match for India, it’s a big deal for anyone, let alone him.
“Also, Rishabh is a very successful player of red ball cricket and has been a match winner for the Indian team. Mentally, he is very strong and as a coach, I feel he will play very well in all the red ball games happening in the rest of the year and he will make India win, starting from the game against Afghanistan,” Sharma said in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Thursday.
In 49 Tests, Pant has amassed 3476 runs at an average of 42.91 and a strike rate of 74.24, including hitting eight centuries and 18 fifties. But Pant was far away from his chirpy and blistering self in IPL 2026, and Sharma feels he just needs one good knock to be at his run-scoring best, while revealing what he told him about making certain adjustments.
“In the IPL, as a captain, his thinking was to make LSG win a lot of matches. In that process, he took a lot of responsibilities on himself and the expected results didn’t pan out. In the first few matches, LSG had some wins, but as the team lost a lot of games later, the pressure was created on the captain.
“Plus, he was playing too many strokes, and more of his shots were on the off-side, because of which he was getting out. So, in T20s, there are a lot of ups and downs, and in the process, a cricketer also faces a lean period, which means a batter can’t be at peace.
“Even though Rishabh didn’t make as many expected runs in the IPL, I am sure he will fare well in the red-ball matches for India. But I have told him to play more vertical strokes, and less of horizontal shots. Plus, don’t collect many runs on-side and should look to play through the off-side, as I do know he can play very well there.
“Somehow, it didn’t click in the IPL, but that’s part and parcel of the game. If he gets a good start against Afghanistan, then he can be back in form as match winners like him need just one innings to be back to their run-scoring best,” he elaborated.
Sharma was equally effusive about the stature Pant has made for himself in Tests, right from the time he smacked Adil Rashid for six on his first ball at Trent Bridge in 2018, saying no Indian batter had dominated overseas conditions quite like him in recent times. It’s also evident from six of his eight Test centuries coming outside India, making him one of the vital cogs in the side’s run-making wheel.
“His journey as a Test cricketer has been very good so far. From the start, if you see in overseas Tests, whether it was in Australia, England, or South Africa, he has dominated there as a Test cricketer. If you see his previous record, no one has dominated so much like him in terms of scoring centuries in Tests. So, his journey in Tests has been very good so far and I hope he will continue to be a match-winner for the Indian team in the longer format,” he said.
Sharma also believes that Pant still has it in him to play all three formats for India. “As a coach, I still believe that he can play three formats for India at any given time. You see, in ODIs, he was dropped without getting a chance to play in a 50-over game after August 2024. How will he be able to make runs if he’s not given a chance to play?
“As a coach, if he is given a chance to play in all three formats, he will be a very good player. I will repeat once again that a good batsman only needs one good innings to rediscover his best self. Having said that, I really wish all the very best to Rishabh and may he continue to make the Indian team victorious.
Sharma signed off by invoking Pant’s remarkable comeback from the near-fatal road accident in December 2022 as the clearest proof of his mental fortitude. “If you are not mentally strong, you cannot survive playing cricket at the international level. We all have seen how he has come back to play for India after the accident. He is mentally strong and will not let anyone down, including the Indian team.”
(IANS)
