Sunil Gavaskar compliments Rishabh Pant’s physical makeover, saying, “He’s lost a lot of weight and he’s looking so good, so fit.”

The late great Sunil Gavaskar noted that Pant appears thinner than he did previously and praised the amount of effort he has put in to get in excellent form for the demands of the sport. On Thursday, June 20, in Barbados, Pant had a superb performance against Afghanistan. Before succumbing to Rashid Khan, he blasted four boundaries in his 20 off 11 balls. While India defeated a goal of 182 runs, the 26-year-old also claimed three catches in the field.

After returning to competitive cricket earlier this year, star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is just getting better. Pant required a full 14 months to resume his career following a life-threatening vehicle accident in December 2022 that left him with many injuries.

During the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), he looked quite sharp behind the stumps and played some enterprising knocks for the Delhi Capitals. The batsman-wicketkeeper was rightfully included in the Indian squad for the T20 globe Cup 2024 and has been exhibiting reasons for his high regard in the cricket globe.

You know, it’s quite miraculous. When we learned about the accident, we were all rather worried. When we learned about the seriousness of his wounds, we were all hoping for him to recover. Not only has he survived, but he has made a remarkable recovery. He’s dropped a little weight, which was definitely needed because at one point it appeared like he was possibly becoming a little overweight. “He looks so good, so fit, and he’s lost a lot of weight,” Gavaskar stated on Star Sports.

“Observe how he moves. He was, those two receptions he took. He covered 20–30 yards in a run. Although the ball was in the air, Rohit Sharma was present, and he is one of the most reliable players in the game. However, regular hands—you know, regular hands—are never quite as safe as wicketkeeper’s gloves. Thus, he was present and once more acknowledged the circumstances,” the erstwhile icon of India stated.

With age, Rishabh Pant is growing up: Sunil Gavaskar

Rishabh Pant, notably, attempted to play a reverse sweep from Rashid but was hit on the pads and declared leg before wicket. Without success, the southpaw requested the DRS. Gavaskar said the flashy batter would grow into an older man.

This is the crucial stage of adulthood. Both Rishabh Pant’s cricket and Hardik Pandya’s have demonstrated this. the level of comprehension of circumstances. He will definitely still play the game, at least in terms of batting. Since he is an inherently aggressive player and can completely unsettle the bowler, that is precisely what you want. That’s the action he took. Not a lot of runs were scored by him. At an SR of 200, he got 20 in roughly 10 deliveries, but at that point, that’s precisely what you want,” Gavaskar said in closing his evaluation.