Rishabh Pant smashed the second-fastest Test fifty by an Indian, keeping the visitors' hopes alive in the match.  With this knock, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter became the first and only player in the world to score two fifties in under 30 deliveries. It was his first fifty of the series and the second-fastest innings ever recorded on Australian soil. 

 He delivered a sensational innings (33 off 61) on the second day of the fifth Test between India and Australia in Sydney, rewriting history in Test cricket.

The 27-year-old went on a rampage, reaching the milestone in just 29 balls, narrowly missing his own record of a 28-ball half-century against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru in 2022. The electrifying atmosphere at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) was further lifted as Pant entertained the crowd with four towering sixes and six crisply timed boundaries.

Head coach Andrew McDonald admitted that Australia was caught off guard by Rishabh Pant’s aggressive approach in the first innings of the Sydney Test.

"First of all, it's not surprising, the way he plays. We were in fact a little bit surprised in the first innings, the way he went about his work. He's got an incredible ability to put pressure back on to bowlers," McDonald said in the press conference after the day’s play.