When talent finally met performance: Rishabh Pant's maiden ODI fifty was long overdue

Rishabh Pant

All the young guns need to understand that there’s a fine line between fearless cricket and careless cricket. What the team management is asking is fearless cricket - having clear game plans and play with intent, backing your strengths. At the same time, you cannot be careless,” - Vikram Rathore (India’s batting coach) on Rishabh Pant

“We’ll let him be but at times when you see a shot, like the first ball dismissal in Trinidad, if he repeats that, then he will be told. There will be a rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent,” - India’s Team Director Ravi Shastri on Pant

Over the past few months, a young 22-year-old man has faced a lot of criticism. In an absolutely cricket-mad nation, Pant has come under the scanner for his ‘careless’ attitude and his inability to put a price on his wicket. Right from arm-chair experts to the batting coach, several people have had their opinion on the youngster.

Pant had come in for criticism from Ravi Shastri too

Until two days ago, Pant had not had a single score of fifty or more in his ODI career. In the whole of 2019, he had four scores of 20 or less out of the nine innings that he had played.

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People were questioning his attitude towards the game. It was a tough time for the youngster; whatever talent he had, was not being translated into performances with the bat.

But then on 15 December at Chennai, we saw a different Pant. For a batsman who was accustomed to go slam bang from the word ‘go’, here was someone who was willing to bide his time in the middle.

India had lost three wickets by the 19th over, and in walked Pant. He was patient at the start, willing to put his head down and play. Off the first 15 balls he faced, he scored only five runs.

This was a different Pant; a Pant who wanted to prove something.

Once he got his eye in, the shots started flowing. A flick off Alzarri Joseph off the seventh ball he faced gave Pant his first boundary. He then launched into Roston Chase, and swept him with élan over deep mid-wicket for six.

It was as if the more Pant spent time in the middle, the more his confidence grew. The youngster then hoisted Jason Holder over his head for a boundary, and off the 49th ball he faced, Pant scampered for two runs to get to his first fifty in ODI cricket.

It was a mature innings, the type of innings that the team management had been asking of him all this while.

Pant scored his maiden ODI fifty against the West Indies on 15th December

Pant continued to make merry till he reached 71. Then, in an effort to up the ante, he flicked Kieron Pollard straight into the hands of deep square leg. But it was a pivotal innings for the young man, which would have done his confidence a world of good.

It was an innings where talent finally met performance, where Pant finally gave the signal that he is ready to do what it takes to contribute to his team.

Talent is something you're born with, but what we do with it is what stands as the differentiating factor. Pant has finally started making his talent count in the international limited overs arena, which is something that the whole of India has been hoping for since a long time.