'He's box office': Nasser Hussain backs Rishabh Pant to make successful return in 2024

Terming him as a “box office cricketer”, former England captain Nasser Hussain sounded hopeful of Rishabh Pant’s return to competitive cricket in 2024, after having been on the road to recovery following a horrific car crash in December 2022. Pant has made immense progress since the car crash and is likely to make his competitive comeback ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA slated to start on 4 June. “That was such a serious accident. The whole world held its breath and it has been a slow recovery,” Nasser Hussain told ICC. “You follow on social media, on my phone and the initial first walking steps to then scenes in the gym and then scenes of him playing a bit of cricket, scenes of him with Ricky (Ponting). “I travelled with Ricky in the summer in the Ashes, and Ricky was texting him how’s the progress coming along’, and he is a box office cricketer,” Hussain added. While Pant has been sidelined with the injury for the past one year, KL Rahul has stepped up when it has mattered the most, scoring 452 runs at the ODI World Cup at an average of 75.33. “India have done well without him (Pant) as KL has come in and been brilliant in all formats,” said Hussain. “They’ll continue to be brilliant. They’re lucky to have both of them, but Rishabh Pant, before his injury, was box office, and hopefully after his injury, will be box office as well,” he added. Hussain also backed young batter Shubman Gill to regain his form in Test cricket. Gill endured scores of 2 and 26 in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion, raising concerns about his consistency. “He (Gill) had a very good three quarters, or nine tenths of 2023. You must have learned so much having the likes of Rohit Sharma at the other end,” Hussain said. “He just fell away maybe at the end. Maybe that illness, you know, just got to him a little bit, and he’s formed just in a month. We take it far too short when we’re in the broadcasting world. He’s a super talent, and he’s going to be the next sensation for India for years to come. So, hopefully, he’ll have a good 2024,” added the 55 year-old.