‘He will be superb’ – Ganguly lauds Pant

Pant made his Test debut in England in August, and has since scored two centuries in nine matches. He ended the series in Australia as its second-highest run-scorer, behind Cheteshwar Pujara, after notching 350 runs in seven innings.

He was excellent with the gloves as well, breaking the record for most catches by an Indian ‘keeper – 20 – in a Test series.

Ganguly was convinced of Pant’s potential. “He will be a superb player for India in the future,” he said. “He has been so good in the series and in future also, he will shine.”

Pant’s efforts over the course of the series helped India seal a historic triumph over Australia in Australia, and Ganguly labelled it a “terrific” win.

India went into the final Test in Sydney with a 2-1 lead, and went on to post a mammoth 622/7 declared before bundling out Australia for 300 and enforcing the follow-on.

There on, the visitors would have been hopeful of a better scoreline, but rain in Sydney washed out of the final, forcing a draw.

Ganguly picked Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah as the biggest positives for India from the series. “It's a terrific win,” he said. “They played excellent cricket throughout and the batting clicked.

"They scored 400-600 runs, and that was the key. Bumrah and Pujara were simply brilliant. They played big roles behind the win.”

India and Australia will now clash in a three-match ODI series, with the first to be played in Sydney on 12 January.