Rishabh Pant has worked his backside off: Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri. Pic/BCCI

Team India's qualification for the World Test Championship final was a team effort alongside the individual brilliance of Rishabh Pant. Long hailed as a match-winner, Pant has finally shown his true worth.

Head coach Ravi Shastri said the wicketkeeper-batsman has worked harder than anyone else in the team. "He worked his backside off to lose it [weight]. He has trained harder than anyone in the last two months. And the results are not just for him to see, it's for the world to see. When you have a naturally brilliant match-winner of his ability playing to potential, there's no greater sight in cricket," Shastri said on Sunday.

Had it not been for Pant's 89 at Brisbane in the fourth and final Test, India's qualification for the WTC final would have been in jeopardy. His sizzling knock helped India beat Australia 2-1.

India's Rishabh Pant plays a cheeky shot against England on Day 3 of the first Test at Chepauk last month

The southpaw once again proved what an asset he is for the Indian team when he turned the tables on England in the fourth Test here on Friday at Motera when his 101-run blitzkrieg put the hosts in a commanding position. India thumped England 3-1, beating them by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth Test.
From a position where it was tough to fit into the

playing XI across all formats, in the last few months, Pant, just 23, has suddenly become irreplaceable. It's not surprising to see him topping the run charts for India in the last seven Tests, scoring a massive 544 runs.

"In the last two months what he's done to win matches for India, there'll be players, who won't do in a lifetime and would have never done it in a lifetime. At the age of 21 to pull off magic like he has, after working as hard as he has… and to then show it in his wicketkeeping," Shastri said. Pant's wicketkeeping that has been under the scanner, has remarkably improved.

"When you add the runs, the match-winning efforts, the 'keeping improving and the hard work he's put in...he was told [previously] in no uncertain terms that this game demands respect. You've got to respect the game much more than what you do - which he did. He addressed it. "He's reaping the rewards now. Outstanding. Simply outstanding," added the coach.

Shastri unhappy with ICC's rule change

India head coach Ravi Shastri slammed the ICC's decision to change the qualification rule for the World Test Championship final from points to percentage-based, advising the world cricket body to not "shift the goalposts." "I can't say how proud I am of my Indian cricket team going through this tough period and qualifying for the WTC final against all odds," Shastri said a day after India's thumping 3-1 series win v England. "When you go from No. 1 to No. 3 sitting in your bedroom not playing cricket, and then you qualify with No. 1 in every department - top of the table, ICC rankings, percentage rankings...tomorrow there might be some other workings that come, I think we'll be No. 1 in that also."