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A couple of days ahead of India’s first Test against England in Leeds, Rishabh Pant attended a press conference and disclosed that the Air India Flight 171 crash has left a severe impact on team's players. Pant has been appointed the vice-captain of the national side in Tests recently. Handling the new responsibility, his role will be to step up and deliver an impactful innings to the team in pressure situations. Besides batting, he will also have to support his captain Shubman Gill and Team India management in the smooth execution of tactics on the field.
Gill and Pant have to be solid in this tour as their critics feel they got the leadership responsibilities despite not playing quality cricket in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia. Prior to the game, Pant said following the loss of 241 lives in the crash last week, he and his team are looking to bring cheers to the faces of Indians again. “What happened in the aircraft (crash), I think the whole India was disheartened but at the same time the only thing from our side…we are going to be sticking with them, how we can make India happy again,” said Pant in the press conference.
He also added, “Obviously, the emotion is going to be high because of what happened n the crash but at the same time we are going to put our best foot forward for the country, how we can make them happy and that's an added responsibility always.”
Rishabh Pant’s Test records in England
Rishabh Pant’s record is superb in England as he has played nine Tests, in which he has notched up 556 runs with a couple of hundreds and two fifties in 17 innings at an average of 32.70. He will be expected to strengthen India’s middle-order with his batting.
In 2024, the 27-year-old made a comeback in Test cricket after two years and since then, his numbers are decent. The left-handed batter scored 576 runs in 17 innings of nine Tests played in 2024, at an average of 36.00.
