For a microsecond, he stood transfixed, unable to believe his eyes. Then he walked off, disappointed but not distraught, even as his partner sank to his haunches, bowing his head to conceal his agony.

KL Rahul seemed to be affected more than Rishabh Pant himself upon the latter’s dismissal for 99 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday afternoon. For a little over three hours, the remarkable left-hander treated a big crowd to a sumptuous feast, fusing the intrepidness of the young with the skills of a virtuoso and triggering awe and admiration in the New Zealand ranks.

‘Jaw-dropping’ is an oft-abused adjective, but at least one jaw literally dropped out in the middle when Pant went down on his knee and slog-swept Tim Southee over deep mid-wicket for the most outrageous of his five sixes. Sarfaraz Khan had just been dismissed after a monumental 150 and a rollicking fourth-wicket stand of 171 with Pant, who has taken the less experienced Mumbaikar under his wing. Southee, not the fastest in the world but by no means a trundler, was operating with the second new ball, Pant was on 90. The former New Zealand skipper might have been a spinner, for all Pant cared, such was the disdain with which he treated that delivery. As the camera sat on faces, it revealed Rahul’s disbelieving grin. And Glenn Phillips’ jaw dropping downward as his mouth opened in a stunned ‘O’.

That’s what Pant can do. He can help the opposition captain set fields even when he is batting, like he did in Chennai against Bangladesh. He can come up with gems like ‘iske sar pe ball laga toh be lbw ho sakta hai’, like in Kanpur while referencing Mominul Haque. And he can bat without a care in the world but not with carelessness, thinking nothing of playing strokes that look outlandish to the rest but that come naturally and without inhibition to him.

Saturday’s 99 was the seventh time Pant was dismissed in the 90s, which means in his 36-Test career, he now has more 90s than hundreds (six). But like his mentor and idol Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who hardly attached any significance to milestones and numbers and statistics, Pant doesn’t reflect on the what-might-have-beens. He doesn’t embrace regret easily, so he will brush off this 99 faster than potentially any other batter in the world. After all, Pant is not about hundreds; he is not about landmarks and statistical highlights. He is just Rishabh Pant, commanding attention with his presence, with his other-worldly batting, with the rare gift to light up the gloomiest day with the punishing arc of his scything willow.

Rishabh Pant is a fighter

That Pant is a fighter needs no reiteration. To be back doing what he loves most not so long after an accident that threatened his very life, let alone his cricketing career, is a tribute to his resilience, to his inner strength, to his avowed determination to make his second innings in this world count. For him therefore to make light of a fearsome blow to the knee and front up for battle should come as no surprise. Struck by the ball on the inside of his right knee – the same knee that needed intricate and painful surgery after his car accident of 30 December 2022 – while keeping wickets on Thursday, Pant hobbled off the field and made millions fear the worst. But when it came to the crunch on Saturday, which India resumed at 231 for three after Virat Kohli’s dismissal off the last ball of the previous evening, there he was, purposefully striding out alongside Sarfaraz to carry India’s fight forward.

He took his time to suss the bowling and the conditions, then launched a ferocious onslaught that had the crowd eating out his hand. Southee was his first target, a towering six over long-off followed up by a delicate dab to third man for four. Then, he turned his attention to Ajaz Patel, the left-arm spinner whom he took down with minimal effort.

In one eventful over where he was adjudged leg before by Paul Reiffel – overturned on review – and easily survived an unsuccessful New Zealand review for caught behind, Pant lashed two giant sixes, as if wondering what the fuss was all about. A little later, he almost took William O’Rourke’s head off when he charged down the pitch and flat-batted the strapping pacer to the straight long-off fence. It was beyond entertaining. It was heart-warming, breathtaking, incredibly enjoyable and, as Phillips will testify, most certainly jaw-dropping.

Sometimes, a 99 can trump a hundred. If it is from Pant, make that every time. A century is a nice souvenir in the bag, but Pant will take an impactful 99 every single day. He will laugh about the one that got away while his teammates will feel the pain more. What a guy.

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