Pant joins a select group of ’keepers

Pant was in the side as a cover to Dinesh Karthik and he got his chance in the third match after Karthik’s reported finger injury. Even before the injury reports, there was speculation that the southpaw could make his debut, considering the performances of Karthik in the first two matches against England. 

The young Delhi lad made his way into the side after scoring two impressive half-centuries for India A in an unofficial Test match against England Lions. In his first class career, he has scored 1744 runs at an average of 54.50, with a strike rate of 95.24. 

In addition to the inclusion of Pant, Virat Kohli made two other changes to the playing XI. While Kuldeep Yadav made way for the returning Jasprit Bumrah, Murali Vijay was dropped for Shikhar Dhawan, who played the first Test match. 

Just as the news of the youngster’s debut made its way to Twitter, many people sent their best wishes to the young lad. Some even drew comparisons with Virat Kohli’s debut which happened exactly 10 years ago on the same day. 

A few even wanted him to emulate the great Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist as an aggressive left-handed batsman lower down the order. On the other hand, there were a few others who had their fair share of doubts about Pant’s wicketkeeping skills. With a lot of expectations on the 20-year old, it will be interesting to see if he can live up to them. 

The inclusion of Pant in the playing eleven meant there are four Delhi players in the team, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma.