Wasim Akram, the ex-Pakistani cricketer has hailed Rishabh Pant, India’s wicket-keeper batsman, for his amazing recovery after a serious accident and described it as a tale for generations to come. He termed the Indian Premier League (IPL) return of Rishabh Pant ‘a miracle’ after an injury and his outstanding performance at the T20 World Cup.
Akram breathed easy when he saw Pant on batting form and applauded him for his brilliance in batting. In an interview with Sportskeeda, the former fast bowling great said these things about not only what Pant meant to cricket fans but also why everyone was worried about how he might be feeling after that accident.
The Twenty20 International World Cup is currently ongoing | Points Table | Stats
“Pant ki performance dekh rahe hai. Miracle jo iss ladke ne kiya hai, dikhaya hai ki he is super human. Jis tragedy se woh wapas aaya hai. Jis tarah se uska accident, maine clips dekhe the, we were all worried in Pakistan [The kind of performance Pant is giving after that accident, he is proving he is a super human. We saw the clips and all were worried about him]. I was worried actually maine tweet bhi kiya tha unke baare me And he came back and he averaged 40 this year in IPL – 446 runs, strike rate of 155 Woh toh miracle bachcha hai,” Akram said.
In the ongoing T20 World Cup tournament Pant continues to shine as the top run scorer for team India having scored 96 runs from three innings with an average of 48.
Additionally, Akram highlighted some important knocks from Rishabh Pant in Test matches against Australia and England.
“Jis tarike se usne Test cricket me performance di jo Australia me jaake usne 100 kiya. Phir uske baad England ke khilaaf usne batting ki. Test cricket me reverse sweeps, [James] Anderson ko, [Pat] Cummins ko. He is special,” Akram said.
Acknowledging Pant’s resilience and mental fortitude after the accident, Akram called it a story that could touch so many young lives around the world.
“And especially what he has been through in that horrific accident. Uske baad comeback karna. Kitna mentally strong yeh ladka hoga That’s a story to be told for generations to generations in my opinion. To motivate young people of the world – ki comeback ho sakta hai, jaise Pant ne kiya,” he added.
Akram agrees with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who sees Rishabh Pant as an instinctive leader by nature.
“I will second Ganguly that Pant ek natural captain hai, instinctive captain he jo mauke par decision karta hai Woh bada jaruri hai T20 format mai,” Akram said.
“Aap T20 format me yeh nahi jaa sakte ki yaar ek raat pahle – do overs yeh karega, do overs yeh karega, do overs yeh karega, na Aap jaate ho ki pehla over yeh karega and then situation kiya hai Agar pahle over me ek wicket le liya hai toh usko me dusra bhi kara dunga Agar nahi toh main kisi aur ko le aaunga Yeh instinctive captaani hoti hai Batting order bhi aap pehle se nahi plan kar sakte hai situation ki mutabiq change karte ho aap That’s where I think Rishabh Pant is good at,” Akram elaborated.
