Rishabh Pant is a compulsive risk-taker, a perpetual rollercoaster rider and an enigma who toggles between “stupid, stupid, stupid” and “superb, superb, superb”. He is a special batting talent with an uncanny knack for frustrating coaches and selectors. Recently, during the South Africa Test series that India lost, the wicket-keeper cum stand-in captain, true to his reputation, had coaches pulling their hair out after he played the kind of stroke that clearly indicated brain-fade. There were repercussions. As collateral damage, his Test misgivings resulted in him not making it to the T20 World Cup that starts at home next month. And it’s been said that his place in the ODI team too is in doubt. That’s life for batsmen living on the edge. They take calculated risks and also gamble to ace odds. These batting buccaneers keep burying the good old ethos of batting to build their own creed. That bargain comes with consequences, as Rishabh would have realised. But then he can’t help it; he is a compulsive stroke-maker. Rishabh belongs to the Cult …