Rishabh Pant approached the first session on day two of the third Test against New Zealand with a vengeance. The exciting left-hand batter scored at a strike rate that was closer to a T20 than a first-class game. It seemed he was making a point to Delhi Capitals who chose to let him go in the recent IPL retention.
If at all IPL franchises needed proof of his explosive style, they were right on cue as Pant smashed his way to a fifty. His reckless approach eventually resulted in his dismissal at 60 off 59 balls. Pant hit eight boundaries and two sixes.
Resuming at his overnight score of 1, Pant greeted Ajaz Patel, who opened the session, with three boundaries, including a drive through mid-off, twice over. He targeted the left-arm spinner, launching one over long on and another into the sight screen. In between, he perfectly middled a reverse sweep.
Glenn Phillips too got the treatment from Pant while Shubman Gill went steady at the other end. At one point it felt Pant would reach his fifty before Gill. He got there just three balls apart, with a single off Sodhi; in 36 balls, making it the fastest half century by an Indian against New Zealand.
Pant had a warning when Sodhi beat him in the air. And another in the next over, when Henry dropped him off Phillips. But he wasn't going to change and hit a boundary off a googly before getting trapped before a wrong one.
India trailed by 149 runs when he got going and were just 53 short when he fell. A typical Pant innings that was heroic and reckless at the same time.