Rishabh Pant declared 'superhuman' and 'miracle kid' by Wasim Akram

Legendary Pakistan National Cricket Team pacer Wasim Akram has showered rich praise on the star India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on his return to Test cricket.

Rishabh Pant finally made his comeback to the longest format of the game after over 600 days in the home Test match against Bangladesh National Cricket Team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

It looked like he never left, as he scored crucial 39 runs in the first innings after India had lost Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill for low scores. Pant stitched together 62 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal and stabilized the innings.

Meanwhile, his best came in the second innings when he smashed a terrific century and finished his innings with 109 runs off 128 balls, with 13 fours and 4 sixes, to equal MS Dhoni's all-time record for most tons (6) by an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in Tests.

His brilliant Test century on comeback also sparked the debate about whether he is the best Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of the longest format of the game, with many experts ranking Rishabh Pant above MS Dhoni.

Wasim Akram didn't share his views on the Pant vs Dhoni debate, but lavished praise on Rishabh Pant, labeling him as a 'superhuman' for his miraculous comeback from a horrific road accident. Speaking to Sportskeeda, Wasim Akram said:

“Look at Pant’s performance, the miracle that he has performed by showing he is superhuman by returning from his tragedy. The way his accident happened, we were all worried in Pakistan, I was worried and tweeted about him.”

Woh miracle baccha hai - Wasim Akram on Rishabh Pant

The legendary fast bowler further said that Pant is a special cricketer and highlighted his heroics in Test cricket against Australia and England.

"The way he used to play in Test cricket, the way he performed in Australia with the century then. The way he batted against England, playing a reverse-sweep against James Anderson in Test cricket, even Pat Cummins. He’s special,” Akram said.

Wasim Akram also believes that the comeback story of the 'mentally strong' cricketer Rishabh Pant will be told for generations.

"Especially what he has been through in that horrific accident, coming back from that, how mentally strong must that boy be. That’s a story to be told for generations and generations, in my opinion, to motivate young people of the world. You can come back the way Pant did. He came back and averaged 40 in the IPL, 446 runs at a strike rate of 155, woh miracle baccha hai (he’s a miracle kid),” he added.

Notably, Pant made his competitive cricket comeback in IPL 2024 and did a good job with the bat. This impressed the Indian selectors, who included him in the team for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and he played a key role in India's title win. He further made his ODI comeback on the Sri Lanka tour before returning to red-ball cricket against Bangladesh.