 Pant in 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Rishabh Rajendra Pant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1997-10-04)4 October 1997 (age 28) Haridwar,Uttarakhand, India[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper-batter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 291) | 18 August 2018 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 22 November 2025 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 224) | 21 October 2018 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 7 August 2024 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 68) | 1 February 2017 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 28 July 2024 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–present | Delhi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2024 | Delhi Capitals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | Lucknow Super Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,8 November 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rishabh Rajendra Pant (Hindi:[ɾɪˈʂʌbʰɾaː'dʒeːd̪ɾəpʌnt̪]; born 4 October 1997) is an Indian internationalcricketer who plays for theIndian national team as awicket-keeper batter. He is currently the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team in theTest format. He captains theLucknow Super Giants in theIndian Premier League andDelhi in domestic cricket.
Pant became the most expensive player in the history of theIndian Premier League when he was bought for₹27.00 crore (US$3.2 million) by theLucknow Super Giants in the 2025 league auction. He was a member of the Indian team that won the2024 T20 World Cup and2025 Champions Trophy. He was the vice-captain of theIndia U19 team that was runner-up at the2016 U19 Cricket World Cup.[3]
He made hisT20I debut for India in January 2017, hisTest debut in August 2018, and hisODI debut in October 2018. In January 2019, Pant was named theICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the2018 ICC Awards.[4] In February 2021, Pant became the first player to be namedICC Men's Player of the Month (for January).[5]
In June 2022, Pant was named as the Indian captain for the T20I seriesagainst South Africa, after the designated captainKL Rahul was ruled out of the series due to an injury.[6]
Pant was born on 4 October 1997 inHaridwar,Uttarakhand,India to Rajendra Pant and Saroj Pant, and hails from aKumaoni family. He also has an elder sister, Sakshi Pant. At the age of 12, Pant would travel with his mother toDelhi during the weekends to train withTarak Sinha at the Sonnet Cricket Academy. He and his mother stayed at aGurdwara inMoti Bagh as they did not have suitable accommodation in the city.[7][8]
Sinha suggested Pant switch toRajasthan to play U-13 and U-15 cricket but to no avail. Pant was instructed by his mentor to overhaul his entirebatting technique in the hopes of becoming a better batsman.[9] His turning point came when he was playing U-19 cricket forDelhi againstAssam. Pant had top-scored with 35 in his first innings and then hit 150 in the second innings, which he claims was the most important knock in his career.[9]
On 1 February 2016, during the2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Pant hit an 18-ball fifty againstNepal, the fastest at this level.[10]
Pant's father died on 6 April 2017, due to acardiac arrest.[11]
Pant made hisfirst-class debut on 22 October 2015 in the2015–16 Ranji Trophy[12] and hisList A debut the next month in the2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy.[13]
In the2016–17 Ranji Trophy, while playing a match againstMaharashtra, Pant scored 308 runs in an innings, becoming the third-youngest Indian to score a triple century in first-class cricket.[14][15]
On 8 November 2016, Pant scored the fastest century in theRanji Trophy, from just 48 balls,[16] in Delhi's match againstJharkhand.[17]
In February 2017, Pant was namedDelhi's captain for the2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He took over fromGautam Gambhir, who led Delhi to the final of the previous season. Delhi coachBhaskar Pillai said it was a "consensus decision" to prepare Pant for the future.[18]
On 14 January 2018, in the2017–18 Zonal T20 League match betweenHimachal Pradesh and Delhi, Pant scored the second-fastest century in a Twenty20 match, making 100 from 32 balls.[19]
| Season | Team | Matches | Runs | 50s | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Delhi Daredevils | 10 | 198 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 366 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 684 | 5 | 1 |
| 2019 | Delhi Capitals | 16 | 488 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 343 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Delhi Capitals | 16 | 419 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | Delhi Capitals | 13 | 340 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 446 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | Lucknow Super Giants | 14 | 269 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 125 | 3552 | 19 | 2 | |
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Pant was purchased by theDelhi Daredevils ahead of the2016 Indian Premier League on the same day he scored a century forIndia U-19 team in the2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, guiding them into the semi-finals.[21] Playing his third game of the season, Pant made 69 runs off 40 balls to help Delhi secure an eight-wicket victory overGujarat Lions.[22] In the2017 season, he scored 97 runs from 43 balls against the same team.[23][24]
During the2018 Indian Premier League, Pant scored an unbeaten 128 from 63 balls against theSunrisers Hyderabad, making it the then highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in IPL history.[25][26] He also became the second youngest player to score a century in the IPL.[27] His score of 128 also comprised 68.4% of the teams total, making it the2nd highest percentage of runs by an individual batsmen in an IPL match. In March 2021, Pant was named the captain of the Delhi Capitals for the2021 Indian Premier League after the regular captainShreyas Iyer was ruled out of the entire tournament due to an injury.[28][29] He was retained as captain for the2022 IPL season as well.[30] In 2024,Delhi Capitals part its way from Pant for upcoming season and released him in auction.
Lucknow Super Giants bought Pant for record 27 Crores in the auction making him the most expensive player in history of IPL.[31] Theowner announced Rishabh as the captain for the team on 21 January for the upcoming2025 IPL season.[32] He scored his second ton inIndian Premier League 2025 againstRoyal Challengers Bengaluru at theEkana Cricket Stadium.[33]
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In January 2017, Pant was named in India'sTwenty20 International (T20I) squad for their seriesagainst England.[34] He made his debut for India in the third T20I against England at theM. Chinnaswamy Stadium,Bangalore on 1 February 2017.[35] Pant was the then youngest player to debut for India in a T20I match at the age of 19 years 120 days.[36]
In February 2018, he was named in India's T20I squad for the2018 Nidahas Trophy.[37] In July 2018, Pant was named in India'sTest squad for the seriesagainst England.[38] He made his Test debut againstEngland on 18 August 2018.[39][40] He became the first batter for India to get off the mark in Test cricket with a six in the series.[41] On 11 September 2018, Pant scored his maiden Test century, againstEngland also becoming the second-youngestwicket-keeper and the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century in England.[42][43] The following month, he was named in India'sOne Day International (ODI) squad for their seriesagainst the West Indies.[44] He made his ODI debut for India against theWest Indies on 21 October 2018.[45]
In December 2018, during thefirst Test against Australia, Pant took eleven catches, the most by a wicketkeeper for India in a Test match.[46] In January 2019, during thefourth Test against Australia, Pant became the first wicketkeeper for India to score a century in a Test match in Australia.[47]
In June 2019, Pant was called up toIndia's squad at the2019 Cricket World Cup as a replacement forShikhar Dhawan, who suffered a hairline fracture of his left thumb during India's game against Australia.[48][49] Following the World Cup, theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) named Pant as the rising star of the squad.[50]
In September 2019, during thesecond Test against the West Indies, Pant became the fastest wicketkeeper for India to affect fifty dismissals in Test cricket.[51] In January 2021, during thefourth Test against Australia, Pant became the fastest wicketkeeper for India to reach 1,000 runs in Test cricket.[52]
The2019–20 home season was billed as an important season for Pant[53] withMS Dhoni announcing a hiatus from international cricket.[54] India went into the season in search of a new wicket-keeping mainstay with Pant as one of the front-runners.[55] However, ordinary performances from the left-hander and the emergence ofKL Rahul as a wicket-keeping option[56] meant that Pant slipped down the pecking order.[57]
A dismal show in the2020 IPL season didn't help either. Pant, who had scored a cumulative 1172 runs with astrike rate of 168 in the last two seasons, only managed to amass 343 runs with a strike rate of 113.[58] His only fifty came in the finals in a losing cause.[59]
Pant was consequently dropped from the limited-overs team touringAustralia in 2020–21.[60] He, however, kept his place in the Test team but did not make it to the playing eleven of the first Test in Adelaide.[61]
During this period, Pant was heavily criticized by fans and the media. Disdainful comparisons with Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni were often brought up.[62][63] There were instances of the crowd chanting"Dhoni! Dhoni!" when Pant made a mistake on the field.[64]
India was bowled out for 36 in the second innings of the first Test of theBorder Gavaskar Trophy 2020–21 and hence lost the test by 8 wickets despite getting a healthy first-innings lead.[65] Following this, Rishabh Pant was picked ahead ofWriddhiman Saha for the second test inMelbourne.[66]
While Pant scored 29 in the first innings of the Melbourne Test,[67] it was atSydney that he played a career-changing knock.[68] With 97 overs to survive on the last day, he played a counter-attacking knock of 97 runs off just 118 balls, also putting up a 148-run partnership withCheteshwar Pujara.[69][70] The match ultimately ended in adraw.[71]
India had many first-choice players unavailable due to injury,[72][73][74] and were the underdogs going into the match played inThe Gabba where Australia had not been defeated since 1988.[75] Pant put in a match-winning performance on day five, as India chased down a target of 328 in the fourth innings,[76] scoring an unbeaten 89.[76]
In September 2021, Pant was named in India's squad for the2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[77] At the annualICC Awards in January 2022, Pant was named inICC Men's Test Team of the Year for 2021.[78] In March 2022, during the second matchagainst Sri Lanka, Pant scored the fastest half-century by a batter for India in a Test match, breaking the record previously held byKapil Dev. He brought up his half-century in just 28 deliveries.[79]
In May 2022, Pant was named as the vice-captain of the Indian team for theSouth Africa tour of India 2022 series. However, one day before the first match of the series, Pant was named as the captain, after India's captainKL Rahul was ruled of the series out due to an injury.[6] At the age of 24 years and 248 days, Pant became the second-youngest captain to lead India in a T20I match.[80]In July 2022, in the final match ofIndia's tour of England, Pant recorded his maidencentury in ODI cricket scoring 125 runs and remainingnot out.[81]
In April 2024, Pant was added to India's squad for the T20 World Cup in June, marking his maiden comeback to international cricket following his horror car crash in late 2022.[82] His game management was praised as a critical part of India's victory inthe final against South Africa.[83] In June 2025, he became the first Indian cricketer to score hundreds in both innings of a Test in England.[84] Also, he became the second wicket keeper batter to smash centuries in both innings of a single test match afterAndy Flower. He became the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to complete 3,000 runs by completing it in 76 innings in Tests. He achieved all these records by slamming twin centuries in the 1st Test atHeadingley as part of the 5-match Test Series from June–August 2025 for theAnderson–Tendulkar Trophy .[85]
On 30 December 2022, Pant was involved in a near-fatal car crash on theDelhi-Dehradun Expressway at Narsan Kalan village nearRoorkee.[86] He was cleared of any serious injury and remained stable despite sustaining injuries to his head, back and feet including two cuts on his forehead and aligament tear to his right knee. He also hurt his right wrist, ankle and toe and sufferedabrasion injuries to his back.[87][88][89][90] Pant was initially admitted to Saksham Hospital inRoorkee, and was later transferred toMax Hospital in Dehradun.[91][92] TheMRI scans of his brain and spine indicated they were normal but he was advised to undergoplastic surgery for his facial injuries,lacerations andabrasions. Scans of his ankle and knee were postponed due to pain and swelling.[93]
Pant was reportedly driving hisMercedes-AMG GLE 43 Coupe from New Delhi to his hometownRoorkee and was the only person inside the vehicle, according to eye-witnesses.[94][95] The car reportedly caught fire when it collided with a central divider on the road. The incident was reported to have taken place at 5:30 am and the carskidded for about 200 metres before hitting the road divider.[96][97] Some sources claimed that Pant may have fallen asleep while driving.[98] He was rescued by Sushil Mann, a bus driver, and Paramjeet Singh, a bus conductor, both employees ofHaryana Roadways.[99][100] His injuries kept him out until his return to competitive cricket in the2024 Indian Premier League.[101]
Rishabh Pant, Brendon McCullum and David Warner – all 5ft 7in – prove that small players can still hit the ball with stunning power.
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