Rishabh Pant had been the star of India’s famous win in Australia the last time the two sides played a Test series against each other.
India and Australia face each other in the Test arena once again when the latter return to the subcontinent in February. Australia will be touring India for four Test matches, starting on February 9 in Nagpur. This will be their first Test series in India since the feisty 2016/17 Border-Gavaskar Series and they will be looking for their first series win against the hosts since 2015.
Since losing the 2016/17 series 2-1, Australia have gone on to lose twice at home to India, with the second one coming against a team that was severely depleted by the end of the series due to injuries. Moreover, talismanic captain Virat Kohli had left for home on paternity leave right after a rather disastrous defeat in the first Test.
However, a number of rather unlikely heroes emerged for India during that series, among whom was Rishabh Pant. Pant, who was under pressure in all formats due to his poor form before the series, led India to victory in the fourth Test at the Gabba with his typically aggressive batting. His Test career has only gone from strength to strength since then and he was expected to play an important role in the upcoming series but a horrific car crash has ruled him out of any cricket for much of the coming year.
