Rishabh Pant taken to Test cricket like a duck to water: Dravid

New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Former India head coach Rahul Dravid, while sharing his thoughts on Rishabh Pant’s match-winning 89 not out against Australia at the Gabba during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, has said that the wicketkeeper batter has "taken to Test cricket like a duck to water" and called his performance in the red-ball format "sensational."

Pant’s heroic innings came on the final day of the fourth and final Test, with India chasing a daunting target of 328. His counterattacking style not only secured a historic 3-wicket victory but also ended Australia’s 32-year unbeaten streak at the Gabba, sealing the series 2-1 for India.

"I think Rishabh's was an incredible performance. Watching Rishabh there and chasing to get 89 to win that Test match at the Gabba, with everything on the line and such a depleted side, to put in that kind of performance under that kind of pressure—truly sensational," Dravid said to to Star Sports.

Pant's record against Australia speaks volumes — in eight Tests, he has amassed 662 runs at an average of 55.16, with two fifties and a hundred. Notably, his contributions in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 tours helped India clinch the Border Gavaskar Trophy, solidifying his status as a match-winner.

"What a special cricketer he's been. He’s just taken to Test cricket like a duck to water. It’s just phenomenal. I mean, it's hard to imagine that, after Dhoni left, you felt there might be some time for someone to come in and replace him. I'm not saying he's replaced him, but certainly in Test cricket, his performances have been absolutely sensational," Dravid added.

Dravid also reacted to the fact that, despite several incredible performances by Indian batsmen in Australia over the years, his double century during the 2003 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide remains a fan favourite.

During the second Test of the series in 2003, after Aussies racked up 556 on the board, India were reeling at 85/4 when VVS Laxman walked out to join Dravid at the crease. The duo’s 303-run stand for the fifth wicket with Dravid playing a marathon knock of 233 runs.

"I'm grateful for it, but I wouldn't have voted for myself, put it that way. Probably I've got a lot of recency bias as well. I think the way India has performed in Australia over the last two series in particular—winning series there—that counts for a lot. However great my performances were or India’s performances were, we couldn't actually win that series.

"We came close, but we couldn't get the wickets on the final day in Sydney that we needed. The last two teams that have gone to Australia have done that, and that's a fantastic achievement—a terrific achievement—and there have been some absolutely sensational performances right through those. I don't know which of those made your list, but some absolutely sensational performances in the last two series as well," said Dravid.

The batting legend followed up his first innings sensational effort with an unbeaten 72-run knock in the second innings as India chased down a 230-run target to win the match by 4 wickets and take a 1-0 series lead against Australia in Australia for the first time ever.

Reflecting on walking in at 85-4 when Laxman joined him at the crease, Dravid shared, "I was thinking, 'I've got the captain run out. I better do something meaningful.' It was totally my mistake getting Saurav (Ganguly) run out. I will own up to that one—it was my mistake. But I think you're just trying to bat, you're just trying to build a partnership, you're just trying to get to the target. 556 is a huge score. You're just trying to stitch together a partnership; we've lost four wickets, and you're just trying to think about getting close and batting together.

"The thing with Laxman and me is that we had batted together a couple of really big partnerships before that. We did it once in Kolkata in 2001 and even in a domestic game when we first played South Zone against West Zone—we had a really big partnership. So we had kind of batted a lot together and built this partnership. Not that we were thinking about that when we got out there, but I think the idea was really just to bat and try and build partnerships, stitch something together.

"As the partnership grew, the wicket was a pretty good one to bat on, the ball got a bit softer, and runs started flowing a lot easier. It's always nice batting with Laxman as well, right? Because he's just a beautiful player to watch and such a lovely player. He really attacked back, which, in some ways, complemented me quite well in how we went about our innings," Dravid recalled.

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