IND vs SA 2022: "I am very grateful" - Rishabh Pant shares photos of him getting 'cake smashed' by Indian team

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant represented Team India in their final T20I against South Africa in Indore on Tuesday (October 4), which was also his 25th birthday. After the game, his teammates continued the trend of applying cake all over the birthday boy's face.

Rishabh Pant took to social media to thank all his fans, teammates, and others who wished him well on his special day. He also shared photos of his birthday celebrations with the Indian team. Here's what the youngster captioned the photos with:

"Yesterday was so overwhelming. A big thanks to all my friends, teammates, and fans for taking their time to wish me. It really meant a lot to me and I am very grateful for it. 🙏🙌"

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Rishabh Pant looked pretty comfortable at the top of the order

Rishabh Pant once again gave a glimpse of the kind of damage that he can do if he is backed as an opener in the shortest format during the match in Indore.

With both Virat Kohli and KL Rahul rested, captain Rohit Sharma opened the batting with the young southpaw. This gave the latter some time to get his eye in, which was crucial as Sharma departed for an early duck.

Once Pant got into his groove, he played an elegent cut shot that got him going. That was followed by two absolutely cracking boundaries down the ground. He threatened to take the game away and scored a quickfire 27 as India looked to chase down a mammoth 228-run target.

Pant was eventually dismissed off his 14th ball, caught brilliantly by Tristan Stubbs at cover off Lungi Ngidi.

Although his innings didn't last long, the 25-year-old has given the team management a hint that he can open the batting in the T20 World Cup if needed. If a top-order batter suffers an injury or a drop in form, Pant can be an explosive opener, while also providing a left-right combination at the top.

Here's India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup:-

Main squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Standby Players: Mohammad Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.