How the fearlessness of Rishabh Pant accelerated his entry into Team India as a shooter.

Former India cricket team batting coach Sanjay Bangar recalled that Rishabh Pant had shown his ability to bat fearlessly very early on in his career. It took the southpaw just one year after making his T20I debut in 2017 to became an all-format player for the Men in Blue. Bangar pointed out how former India pacer Ashish Nehra had predicted that Pant was going see a meteoric rise back when he was just starting to play in the IPL.

Pant’s fearlessness leaves Bangar in awe

Speaking to Doordarshan Sports, Bangar pointed out that a naturally gifted Pant was very fearless. He recalled that he had first seen the southpaw’s trait while he was bating in the nets where he used to ask the bowlers to bowl very quickly to him. Bangar said that Nehra was right when he had said Rishabh would progress rapidly, adding that India had found a keeper-batter who could bat in the top 5 after a long time in the form of Pant.

“I had heard from Ashish Nehra that Rishabh is a very good player who’s going to progress very quickly. He is a naturally gifted batter. But, he’s also very fearless. I saw the first sign of his fearlessness in the nets itself. He used to tell the bowlers to bowl quickly and attack his body. Very few batters have had this mindset. He had just begun playing the IPL back then. So Nehra’s assessment was correct. After a long time, we’ve found a wicketkeeper who can bat in the top-5,” Bangar said.

Pant is currently on the sidelines owing to a fractured toe that he sustained during the IND vs ENG 4th Test. The southpaw made his comeback in IPL 2024 after recovering from a deadly car crash that saw him sidelined for over a year. He was a part of the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma which won the T20 World Cup in June 2024. Pant then went on to feature in Tests for the remainder of the year. He became the most-expensive player in IPL 2025 after LSG bagged him for a whooping Rs 27 crore. However, he had a rather sub-par season, scoring just 269 runs from 13 innings at an average of 24.45.