India vs West Indies: Rishabh Pant underscores his genius in match-winning innings as India sweep T20I series

There are a few batsmen in the game today to which the title of genius could be applied. It isn’t just about their run making ability, sheer consistency, stupendous power or silken timing; all great batsmen have these but there are a few that appear to be touched by something divine. They have something more, an ability to access extra dimensions and dissect geometries that ordinary batsmen are just not equipped with. AB de Villiers is truly a genius of the last generation. In the current generation, there are two that appear to be heading to that ABdV level: England’s Jos Buttler and India’s Rishabh Pant.

The definitions of orthodox — and hence unorthodox — are painfully inadequate to describe the rendezvous points these gentlemen arrange between the arcs of their blade and the trajectories of the cricket ball. It is the limitation of the language and the imagination of the writer that constraints the genius of these batsmen into the straitjacket of cricket vernacular.

But then, even genius batsmen are humans. Though their skills might exist in a realm out of the reach of mortals, they are still made of flesh and blood, and do seem to be affected by the results, reputation, pressure, and expectations.

Two innings, four runs, one golden duck, five balls faced. This after Pant was installed as the number four in India’s T20I side. India won both the matches handily but there were questions about Pant’s “method”. That he audaciously swiped across the line off the first ball facing Sunil Narine in the first T201 in Florida to be caught at the square leg boundary, and that he guided a short-and-fast delivery from Oshane Thomas to the fielder placed at deep third-man, could mean two things. That Pant truly believes he was not going to be out from those shots, or that it was so early in his innings that the positioning of the fielder did not yet register to him. Only Pant can answer that.

Since his introduction in IPL 2016, Pant has stepped through the gears and in his third IPL season in 2018, as a 20-year-old, he lit up the charts outshining all the established stars and legend. He scored a bumper 684 runs in just 14 games, averaging more than 50 at a strike rate of 173. Virat Kohli alluded to the possible reason at the end of the third T20I where Pant remained unbeaten on 62 (off 45 balls) to guide the side home for a clean sweep after two dismal returns. “It’s about giving him a bit more space to ease himself into international cricket and not putting too much pressure because of the way he’s played in the IPL.”

Even as Pant walked in at the fall of KL Rahul, Ian Bishop — as unbiased as any commentator — rather wishfully and expectantly chimed in: “It’s an opportunity for (Pant) to play responsibly and (a) significant innings.” Pant tried a square cut on the first ball, hitting straight to the fielder, and presented a straight bat to the next. This innings was already markedly different from the previous two!

In the next over, Thomas tested Pant with a short, rising delivery that swerved away from the left-hander, to explore whether the young man had learned his lesson. It appeared that the youngster from Delhi had not just learned the lesson, but was ready to offer one too. Instead of patting the ball on its high point to glide over to third man area, this time, Pant with more conviction, deliberately undercut the ball to play it more square to beat the third-man fielder by many yards to his left for a four.

If the West Indies were to salvage a consolation win, it was on their ace spinner Sunil Narine. The Trinidadian delivered an off-spinning delivery with such pure side spin, it beat the defensive prod from Pant. Faced with the same delivery next ball, Pant respectfully patted it to the cover region and strolled a single. The rapid understanding of the situation and management of risk was quite evident in this avatar of Pant, and one could argue the presence of his skipper at the other end may have had something to do with it.

Having been in for 24 deliveries and having set up the game, Pant accessed the genius vault. Shots of such high imaginative quality unfurled from his rapier blade that made King Viv — the man of all things cool — give in to excitement on air. Perhaps, genius recognises genius.

As Keemo Paul — Pant’s teammate at Delhi Capitals — delivered a slow off-cutter after a yorker earlier in the over, the left-hander wasn’t going to be fooled. He probably already knew what was coming. A full-bodied off drive thundered the ball to the long-off fence. Paul, in his next, adjusted by coming around the wicket and bowled another cutter. When genius is in flow, mere mortal attempts to impede get swept away in the currents. Another murderous drive that was an exquisite brew of timing and power.

“We are looking at him as our future,” said Kohli on Pant to Bishop. “If he plays like this more regularly, we will see his potential shine for India.”

As the chase seemed settled, Pant chose to add a few exclamation marks as a gentle reminder to both the believers and the non-believers. A reverse swept boundary of Narine, a squat-flick of an 88 mph leg stump yorker from Thomas for a six, and straight over the top six off Carlos Brathwaite to sign, seal and deliver the victory. Genius.