NEW CHANDIGARH: The heat in the afternoon is relentless, and spending time outdoors during peak summer is far from ideal. Despite the conditions, the India squad arrived for practice at 1 pm. During the session, the drills were sharp, but the expressions on several faces carried a hint of strain. Still, the New PCA Stadium wasn’t short on smiles. At the centre of the lighter moments was Rishabh Pant, just two days away from playing his 50th Test as India host Afghanistan in a one-off match on Saturday.
Pant is set to reach the landmark that once seemed far away. When India last faced Afghanistan in a Test, back in 2018, Pant had not yet made his Test debut. Over the span of eight years since then, Afghanistan have played only 12 Tests. Yet Pant’s own journey has been anything but slow or steady—he has been on a relentless climb toward becoming, in many views, one of India’s most outstanding wicketkeeper-batters in the Test arena, and also the most influential Test batter of the past decade. It is hard to miss the grin on his face, even with the weight of what’s coming.
There is a context to that joy. Pant has at times been able to joke even from a hospital bed, not long after a near-fatal car accident left him with significant physical limitations. This week, though, will feel different. During Thursday’s practice, he returned to his usual playful self and blended comfortably with the group, but there has been an important change around him—he is no longer the vice-captain. That role was handed to him exactly a year ago, during a phase when Indian Test cricket went through a major transition.
The smile now reads like a cover for deeper emotional turbulence. At moments, it looked as though he was working to keep his usual persona intact. For Pant, this milestone is no longer simply about reaching 50 Tests—it has started to function as a turning point, with everything around it adding pressure and expectation.
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate offered context on Pant’s leadership approach and the shift in responsibilities. “I don’t think you need a formal title to be a leader in a setup like this. I think Rishabh understands that and I think he’s committed to being a good role model and a senior player,” ten Doeschate said. “He’s been in great spirits again. He’s always one of those guys who’s happy and cheerful and drives the spirit in the team. We’ve got no complaints from him. You wouldn’t even notice that his role in the leadership structure has changed.”
Ten Doeschate’s remarks also underlined the contrast with last year’s tour of England. When Pant was made vice-captain then, it appeared to give him a quick boost—an immediate lift after the change in status. However, heading into his 50th Test with the vice-captaincy no longer part of his remit has naturally raised questions about where he sits within the current leadership group. If Pant had been hoping for clarity or reassurance after a turbulent IPL campaign with Lucknow Super Giants, he has been left with even more to prove.
The conversations when he joined the Test group, according to ten Doeschate, were important even if they may not have been comfortable at first. “I actually heard him and Gauti (head coach Gautam Gambhir) having a chat yesterday around how he wanted to conduct himself as a senior player. It extends to your communication but also how you’re going to play. With Rishabh’s brilliance, we don’t want to take away all the stuff that he does. Occasionally, if he can adjust his game to play the situation slightly more, I think that’s something you’ll see him work on,” the assistant coach explained.
That message was visible during Pant’s batting work, where he spent around 45 minutes in the nets. The vertical bat came into sharper focus, while against the spinners the emphasis shifted toward stone-cold defence. Behind the nets, Gambhir kept speaking to Pant throughout—an approach that stood out because it was rare to see Gambhir in that kind of constant communication since he took charge in August 2024.
The wider intent from the team management appears clear: they want adjustments in Pant’s approach that may require him to tweak, at least at times, the instincts that have made him such a free-flowing and expressive Test batter. For Pant, the challenge now is to carry the same grin and the same energy into this phase—because the road ahead, starting with this 50th Test, has suddenly become about something more than milestones. It is about staying resilient, finding a balance, and ensuring he is still in control when the pressure peaks.
