When Rishabh Pant, 23, stepped on to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test, it was his first international match since January 2020. 

Though the explosive wicketkeeper-batsman was part of the Indian team, all he did was warm the bench before that. Despite having played 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is, he was still not the first-choice wicketkeeper and always played second fiddle to Wriddhiman Saha when it came to Tests. Pant finally made his way into the playing XI at the MCG following India’s 36 all-out shocker in the first Test at Adelaide. And he has not looked back since.