Rishabh Pant becomes the youngest captain in a Ranji Trophy final

India’s rising star, Rishabh Pant has made his name thanks to his consistency and aggressive batting style since his U19 days. Pant finished as the highest run-scorer of the 2016 U19 World Cup, scoring 267 runs at a strike-rate of 104.29.

In the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season, the batsman smashed 972 runs, and came close to being the youngest player to score 1000 runs in a single Ranji Trophy season.

Pant broke the record of India’s fastest First-Class hundred, and smashed 49 sixes in that season, scoring runs at a strike-rate of 107.28, to make himself known to the selectors. Pant was rewarded a place in India A tours, and even made his T20 International debut that year.

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However, the 2017-18 Ranji season has not been too fruitful for Pant, who has only managed 283 runs in eight innings with 1 fifty.

Even after a disappointing season, Pant’s Delhi managed to reach the finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in a decade. Pant also captained the team in absence of regular captain, Ishant Sharma.

However, with Sharma travelling to South Africa for India’s upcoming series, the 20-year-old got a chance to lead Delhi in the knock-outs. Pant is currently captaining the Delhi team against Vidarbha in the Final in Indore at the Holkar Stadium.

Being 20 years and 86 days old, Rishabh Pant now becomes the youngest ever captain in a Ranji Trophy Final, beating Sachin Tendulkar, who led Mumbai in the 1994-95 Ranji Trophy Final against Punjab, at the age of 21 years and 337 days.

Pant is also the youngest player among Delhi’s playing XI in the Final, and also became the first wicketkeeper-captain for Delhi in a Ranji Trophy season final.

Only six captains, including Pant, have led their team to a Ranji Trophy final before the age of 24. However, only two captains have ended up winning the trophy. Sachin Tendulkar won the 1994-95 season final as captain with Mumbai, while Vijay Merchant led Bombay to victory in the 1944-45 season, aged 23 years and 143 days.