During the 2021-23 WTC cycle, Pant was the most impressive wicketkeeper-batsman, with only Tom Blundell of New Zealand coming close to matching his run total. Pant hit 22 sixes, second only to Ben Stokes’ 28, and his strike rate of over 80 demonstrated his eagerness to challenge the bowlers.
Remarkably, both of Pant’s centuries were scored in crucial matches – a resilient unbeaten 100 against South Africa in Cape Town and a blazing 146 off just 111 balls against England in Birmingham.
Regrettably, a severe car accident sidelined him during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February and March, and he is unlikely to be fit for the WTC final in England in June.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are the two other Indian players in CA’s WTC Team of the Tournament. Throughout the ongoing WTC cycle, Jadeja managed to capture 43 wickets across 12 games, featuring three instances of taking five wickets in an innings. Additionally, he contributed 673 runs with the bat, comprising of two centuries and three half-centuries. On the other hand, Ashwin participated in 13 matches and secured 61 wickets, with two instances of claiming five wickets in an innings.
Cricket Australia’s best XI from the 2021-23 WTC cycle:
Usman Khawaja (Australia)
- Matches: 16 | Runs: 1,608 | Bat Avg: 69.91 | Strike rate: 50.40 | 100s: 6 | 50s: 7 | Highest score: 195 no
Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
- Matches: 12 | Runs: 1,054 | Bat Avg: 47.90 | SR: 51.92 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 8 | HS: 147
Babar Azam (Pakistan)
- Matches: 14 | Runs: 1,527 | Bat Avg: 61.08 | SR: 53.15 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 10 | HS: 196
Joe Root (England)
- Matches: 22 | Runs: 1,915 | Bat Avg: 53.19 | SR: 60.81 | 100s: 8 | 50s: 6 | HS: 180 no
Travis Head (Australia)
- Matches: 17 | Runs: 1,208 | Bat Avg: 52.52 | SR: 80.69 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 6 | HS: 175 no
Ravindra Jadeja (India)
- Matches: 12 | Runs: 673 | Bat Avg: 37.38 | SR: 48.10 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 3 | HS: 175 no |
- Wickets: 43 | Bowl avg: 23.23 | Econ: 2.40 | SR: 57.8 | 10WM: 1 | 5WI: 3 | Best bowling: 7-42
Rishabh Pant (India) (wicketkeeper)
- Matches: 12 | Runs: 868 | Bat Avg: 43.40 | SR: 80.81 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 5 | HS: 146 | Catches: 44 | Stumpings: 6
Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
- Matches: 13 | Wickets: 61 | Bowl avg: 19.67 | Econ: 2.48 | SR: 47.5 | 5WI: 2 | Best bowling: 6-91
Pat Cummins (Australia) (captain)
- Matches: 15 | Wickets: 53 | Bowl avg: 21.22 | Econ: 2.68 | SR: 47.3 | 5WI: 3 | Best bowling: 5-38
Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
- Matches: 13 | Wickets: 67 | Bowl avg: 21.05 | Econ: 3.63 | SR: 34.8 | 5WI: 3 | Best bowling: 6-50
James Anderson (England)
- Matches: 15 | Wickets: 58 | Bowl avg: 20.37 | Econ: 2.27 | SR: 53.7 | 5WI: 2 | Best bowling: 5-60
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