Rishabh Pant: Cricket's resilient Sonchiriya dancing to destiny's music
"The curse won't vanish just by altering our route," Man Singh replies with a rueful smile.Fate. Destiny. Inevitability. There's a phrase for this tragic dance coined by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: Amor Fati-love your fate, embrace it.Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant's life embodies this dance of destiny. His life is a vivid reminder that sometimes the only option is to accept fate with resilience.Rishabh Pant and the StalkerOn the first day of the fourth India-England Test, Pant suffered yet another injury. Attempting an audacious reverse sweep off Chris Woakes, he was struck on the ankle. His foot quickly swelled and reddened, and he had to be driven off the field. Experts now fear the injury may be serious, with Ricky Ponting suggesting Pant could have a broken metatarsal-a bone in the foot.Bad luck and injuries seem to pursue Pant like a relentless stalker. A Greek parable tells of a man who, warned of tragedy, escapes to a distant island, only to meet a hooded figure awaiting his arrival-his fate. This story could easily describe Pant's turbulent summer.He began the series brightly, playing with trademark flair and risk-taking bravado, but in the third Test, ran himself out to help KL Rahul reach a century. Earlier, a ball had thudded into his left hand, making batting in the second innings a struggle. Fears of a fracture arose, yet Pant returned for the fourth Test, ready to answer Bazball with Rishball. Or so we thought, while destiny schemed in the British summer.The Dance of FateIn March, Pant was seen dancing at his sister Sakshi's wedding in Mussoorie. Videos of him grooving to Dulhe Ka Sehra and Dama Dam Mast Qalandar alongside cricket legends MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina went viral. But his year has been a curious dance with destiny, full of sudden twists and turns.The year began with a high-high acquisition by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for Rs 27 crore, the highest in IPL history. But through the rest of the spring, Pant watched from the sidelines as India embraced glory and lifted the Champions Trophy. Once India's version 2.0 of MS Dhoni in limited overs cricket, Pant was made to warm the bench to accommodate KL Rahul's calm and experience.
The IPL that followed was a blur of memes, snarls before redemption. As a batter, Pant struggled the entire season, his franchise failed to qualify for the final rounds, giving haters an opportunity to mock his decision to choose LSG, ostensibly for money.His career seemed back on track after the first three Tests in England, his batting reaching the same highs of aggression, devastation and celebrations. But, like always, destiny is threatening to pull him back with a foot injury.The Fault With Our StarsPant was born in Roorkee, a verdant town of greens and the Ganga's ebb and flow. His life has been marked with so many ups and downs, interventions by fate, that it now resembles a soap opera, which, like the third season of The White Lotus, can be called Amor Fati.advertisementAfter losing his father at a young age, Pant pursued his cricket dreams fiercely. He endured hardships with his boyish smile and quick wit, sleeping in Gurudwaras, travelling long distances, and forging his destiny with an explosive entry into Test cricket. In 2022, just as his legend was peaking after two iconic knocks in Australia, Pant's car crashed into a divider. He feared his life was over.Badly burned and with a knee twisted 180 degrees, Pant wrestled with fate in the shadows, summoning extraordinary physical and emotional strength.His return to cricket became an inspiration. By late 2023, after intensive physiotherapy, he began sharing videos of cautious steps and gym routines-testaments to grit reminiscent of Man Singh's defiance against destiny. In early 2024, Pant returned to domestic cricket, cheered as a symbol of resilience. Fans flocked to see whether the fearless match-winner still lived within his battered body. For his sheer perseverance, Pant deserved a gallantry award.His comeback for India in limited-overs cricket made headlines: a rapid 45 against South Africa, a lightning-fast stumping-moments when it seemed he had finally outwitted destiny. Yet fresh setbacks soon returned. Pant became a third-choice keeper-batter in T20s, a reserve in one-dayers, and even lost the captaincy race to Shubman Gill, though he once seemed destined to lead India's Test side.advertisementThe Curse of the Dead SnakeSetbacks, like the dead snake in Sonchiriya, seem to haunt his path. Each turn is poised to disrupt his revival just as he is ready for new heights. For Pant, misfortune is less a mere accident than a persistent presence: a stalker to be confronted, never avoided.Like Lakhna, he senses the risks in every step. Yet, time and again, Pant's response mirrors Man Singh's: move forward-mai ka naam le ke aage badho-with his bold and aggressive stance on the field, charged with both peril and possibility.His willingness to endure, to "love his fate," shines through every comeback and every daring moment on the field. In a year of both triumphs and challenges, Pant remains Indian cricket's most poignant story of how destiny may not always be conquered but can always be danced with. Here's to seeing Pant's unorthodox dance again. Down the pitch, one hand slipping off the bat's handle, the Duke's flying away to the Thames.Because destiny may clip his wings once in a while, but he remains cricket's Sonchiriya- the rare golden bird of Chambal.- EndsYou May Also Like
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
26 minutes ago
- NDTV
Not Only Rishabh Pant, Another India Star Suffered Finger Fracture But Still Batted During Fifth Test: Report
Under the captaincy of Shubman Gill, Team India registered a historic win at The Oval in the fifth and final Test against England. Mohammed Siraj took a nine-wicket haul as India won the match by six runs, drawing the five-match series 2-2. Despite registering a memorable draw in the series, Team India also dealt with several injury blows. The biggest blow came in the form of Rishabh Pant, who fractured his toe, and was ruled out of the fifth Test. Apart from him, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, and Akash Deep also faced injury blows. However, one injury which did not come to light during the series was of batter Karun Nair. The middle-order batter suffered a minor fracture on his finger during the second innings of the fifth Test while facing a rising delivery, according to a report by the Times of India. Nair is now set to miss the upcoming Duleep Trophy for the Central Zone. The first match of Duleep Trophy 2025 will be played from August 28 between the North Zone and the East Zone. Nair, who made a comeback into the national team after a hiatus of eight years, had an average outing against England. In four matches, he scored only 205 runs, including one half-century. Earlier in July, Nair returned to Karnataka after a hiatus of three years for the upcoming domestic season after Vidarbha Cricket Association granted him the No Objection Certificate (NOC). Nair played a major role in Vidarbha's title-winning run in the 2024-25 season, scoring 863 runs at an average of 53 and he also made a hundred in the final against Kerala. "It's tough to see him go as he was a big part of our team in the last couple of seasons. But it's his decision and we respect that and NOC was given. Hopefully, he will do well in the future seasons," a VCA official told PTI. The successful stint with Vidarbha also helped Nair make a comeback to the Indian Test squad after eight years. (With PTI Inputs)
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Review of The House of Girls by Sonia Rafeek
The fictional world of Sonia Rafeek's The House of Girls flickers in the chimerical light of the hurricane lamps that appear frequently in the narrative. The interplay of uncertain light engulfed all too soon by shadows, is perhaps a suitable metaphor for this novel within a novel, this shifting story that cracks open many other stories that are part-history, part-mythology, part-dawn, part-dusk. But The House of Girls, translated from the Malayalam by Ministhy S., is impossible to contain within a metaphor; it breaks free from its structure to offer irrepressible metafiction. At the outset, Nazia Hassan, a Malayali woman who works as a receptionist at a hospital in Dubai, receives a parcel that contains a novel. This novel, titled Bait Al Banat (The House of Girls), has been written by a mysterious namesake: 'With a pang, I touched the name of the author: Nazia Hassan! My fingers stilled on my name, and my palm became sweaty again.' With thrilling anticipation, she begins to read. The reader follows her into yet another Dubai, into a house in the Gold Souk area built in the 1950s, and into the lives of the three unmarried Arab women who lived there. The new novel tells of the fragile dignity of sisters Mariam, Soraiyya, and Shamsa. It delineates their worldly troubles, their charming predicaments, and the dangers they navigate as single women in the Deira region. The reader gleans that their mother died while giving birth to Shamsa, the youngest. Their father, Ahmad Manzuri, a pearl merchant who built Bait Al Banat, has remarried and moved out of the house. Mariam, the eldest, is 45 and prone to nostalgic yearnings. Soraiyya, tall, loquacious, and enterprising, runs a taxi business. Shamsa, oval-faced and in her 30s, is a teller of exotic stories: 'There was another world inside Shamsa, a secret world without the sand dunes, sky and sea.' Each sister forever a 'girl' to the Emiratis, who refer to all unmarried women by that somewhat diminutive noun. Shared chronicles While Shamsa's world of ephemeral magic comes alive in her storytelling, it is Deira, the sisters' palpable reality, which bustles with the business of the day. The narrative offers an early morning glimpse of the area through Mariam, who sits on the doorsteps of the house, pounding coffee for the kahwa. The souk's sellers have risen, and so have the children who were asleep in the barastis. Young girls in white tops and blue skirts make their way to a school on Al Rigga Street. As the narrative progresses, it magnifies the mercantile activities of the coastal town — British steamers approaching the coast, Bedouins with guns strapped on the shoulders in the gullies of the souk, the presence of Indian gold merchants in Dubai. The arrival of a British journalist, Rosa, is suggestive of the port city's early cosmopolitanism. The House of Girls oscillates between the sisters' third-person chronicles, and the receptionist Nazia's first-person account. Her own memories slide into Bait Al Banat, the novel she is reading. The house where the sisters lived was converted into a Women's Museum in 2012; she recalls visiting it for the first time in 2017: 'Though there was no picture of the trio, I imagined their faces based on the objects they owned.' Another Dubai, a contemporary Dubai in which Nazia's friends make chicken pizza from scratch, a city of lovers who converse through the delirium induced by paracetamol and vodka, is revealed through this narrative. The juxtaposition of the sisters' old city with Nazia's chic metropolis heightens the sense of time passing by, altering geographies, and reshaping traditions to suit an astonishing modernity. Too explanatory While The House of Girls is set up to delight with its narrative structure, its stylistic intent, its stories-within-stories that are as intricately stitched into the narrative as Mariam's embroidery, ultimately, it falls short of its early promise. The translation, in an attempt to remain faithful to the original Malayalam, is a bit too earnest and explanatory. Italicised words, strewn across the text, are accompanied by descriptions, even in dialogue: 'What about having some pao-bhaji — blend of spicy mashed potatoes served with butter-toasted buns…' Both narratives, the sisters' and Nazia's, feel stilted, and lack the whimsical freedom that could have made this metafiction soar above the heft of historical accuracy. This novel, although thematically fanciful, disappoints in its articulation. The reviewer is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Who is Haider Ali? Pakistan cricketer arrested in England on rape charge
Haider Ali (X Photo) Pakistan cricket has been rocked by fresh controversy after young batter Haider Ali was arrested in England over an alleged rape during the Pakistan Shaheens' tour of the United Kingdom. The 24-year-old, part of the national 'A' team, has been provisionally suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) pending investigation. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed receiving a rape report on Monday. 'We have arrested a 24-year-old man… It's alleged the incident occurred on Wednesday 23 July 2025 at a premises in Manchester. The man has since been bailed pending further enquiries,' the statement read. British police typically do not name suspects at this stage. Poll Do you believe this incident will impact the reputation of Pakistan cricket? Yes, significantly No, it won't have much effect It depends on the outcome of the investigation A PCB spokesperson confirmed: 'We have suspended Haider until the investigation is completed and will conduct our own inquiry in the UK.' The board said it would cooperate fully with legal proceedings while providing Haider with legal support. Old Trafford cricket ground: A stadium tour of the iconic venue in Manchester Haider Ali : Young career cut short? Haider Ali, who debuted in 2020, has played two ODIs and 35 T20Is for Pakistan, scoring 505 T20I runs with three fifties. In first-class cricket, he averages over 47 with 1,797 runs in 27 matches but is yet to play Test cricket. Born in Attock, he made his international debut in Manchester — the same city where the current case has arisen — in a T20I against England on September 1, 2020. Haider last played for Pakistan against Afghanistan at Asian Games in Hangzhou on October 6, 2023. Once considered among Pakistan's brightest young batting talents, Haider's career has faced prior setbacks, including a suspension for breaching Covid-19 protocols during the 2021 PSL. The Shaheens' UK tour (July 17–August 6) included two drawn three-day games and a 2–1 one-day series win. The case evokes memories of Pakistan's 2010 spot-fixing scandal, when Salman Butt , Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Asif were jailed in England, underscoring the recurring shadow of controversy over the nation's cricket. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
