Good early signs but the task s cut out for Pant now

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The crowd was torn between their loyalty to Rajasthan Royals and their love for Rishabh Pant. They willed him to hit sixes, yet belted out a collective roar when he was out caught behind off Yuzvendra Chahal.

The scorecard will tell you Pant made 28 off 26 balls. It could make you believe there was an element of struggle on his part in a tall run chase. But for much of his knock, he simply needed to play a supporting role as long as David Warner was around.

That comes with a solid understanding of situations and of your own game smarts that Pant amply displayed. It also came with the belief that he could change the game later.

Sure, it didn't quite materialise the way he would have wanted, but there were plenty of shades of positivity in his innings, especially during his 67-run stand with Warner that brought Delhi Capitals back in their chase of 186.

It seemed too far away at 30 for 2 when Nandre Burger breathed fire, dismissing Mitchell Marsh and Ricky Bhui with two beauties. Marsh was beaten for pace by a skiddy delivery that flattened his stumps, while Bhui gloved a short one to Sanju Samson.

Watching Pant steer the first ball behind point for a boundary frustrated Burger. Not because he had erred in line ever so slightly, but because of the ease with which Pant found the gap behind square when the field was set in front of it.

There was a ferociousness to Pant when he took on Chahal a little later. Chahal drifted one away from the hitting arc. It's Chahal's modus operandi - challenging batters by throwing it up full and wide - and the deep midwicket boundary was a long one. But by deciding to take him on, even thought Dhruv Jurel might have caught it in the deep another day, Pant sent out a loud and clear message that he was ready for it.

There was intent in the running that, at times, bordered on over-eagerness. It nearly led to Warner's run-out at the non-striker's end in the ninth over. Pant charged down the pitch, only to send Warner back even as R Ashwin couldn't gather an awkward throw on the bounce.

That and the result aside, you couldn't have picked out any glaring weakness. Pant's picking of length was top notch. His use of the crease to spin, especially while rocking back to cut Ashwin even when was just fractionally short, pointed to no physical discomfort.

In general, there was a sense of industry to his innings that made you wonder when it would snowball into something bigger. But the party didn't last long enough for that to happen. Pant was out attempting a cut, only managing a thick bottom edge to Samson. Chahal had had his revenge.

With the gloves on, too, Pant seemed fairly nifty. Early on, he took cues from where Marsh stood to adjust his position behind the stumps on a relaid surface that provided a lot of bounce and carry.

When Kuldeep Yadav came on, Pant's instincts kicked in. He was, at one point, blinded when Riyan Parag missed a googly, but still managed to grab the ball on instinct. Perhaps briefly excited by the nature of the grab more than the possibility of a nick, Pant unsuccessfully reviewed a caught-behind not-out decision.

That he was in no discomfort was further reinforcement of the NCA's decision to give him an all-clear to keep wickets, especially because there had been a slight possibility of him starting IPL 2024 as a pure batter.

All through his stay in Jaipur, there has been a sense of absolute normalcy around Pant, a welcome change from all the attention he quite understandably received during the first week of the IPL. Two days out from the game, Pant revelled in the thrill of hitting the ball long and far, and engaged in a six-hitting contest with Australia's Jake Fraser-McGurk.

There was a competitive streak to it as well, each pegging the other's hit to a certain number they tried to outdo. They were at it until someone actually realised they were quickly running out of old balls.

But having now presided over two losses, Pant has his task cut out. And, fairly or unfairly, his batting is bound to come under a lot more focus as the season progresses. For now, there's enough promise that holds out hope that the bigger and more impactful knocks are just around the corner.