Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has made a strong statement regarding young wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant.
Since his international debut, Rishabh Pant has often received flak for his shot selection. While Pant has time and again won India matches with the bat, he also draws criticism for getting out with a rash shot.
The trip to South Africa encapsulated his career: he played two terrific innings – century in the Cape Town Test and a knock of 85 in the Paarl ODI – but also got out to two unnecessary charged slashes – in Johannesburg Test and Cape Town ODI.
Given this mercurial nature of Pant, Gavaskar reckons head coach Rahul Dravid should have a stern talk with the 24-year-old, explaining that Pant needs to take his time in the middle to set himself in – because once set the dynamic batter can tear apart any bowling attack, making up for the lost time.
“We all know what he is capable of. We all are changing our views and opinions about him every other day. One day he plays a blinder of an innings, the next day he plays a shot which makes you wonder. But somewhere down the line, my feeling is that Rahul Dravid will sit him down and tell him what a marvellous talent he is. And all that he needs to do is to give himself a little bit of time in the middle like he did in Australia,” Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
Reflecting on Pant’s twin heroics in Sydney and Gabba on the last Australia tour, Gavaskar pointed out that in both those knocks, the southpaw had taken his time to settle down before unleashing his array of shots.
“The reason we bring that Australia Tests up is that when he scored that 96 in Sydney, 89 is Brisbane, he gave himself time and only after that he started to go for the big shots. And that’s because it becomes easier. You know what the pitch is doing, your feet are moving, you eye is set. And with all those shots, even if he scores 0 off 10 deliveries, in the next 4 he can score 16,” the former opener added.
Sunil Gavaskar further elaborated: “That is the capability that he has, so that is why now Rahul Dravid needs to sit with him and tell him some home truths. This is what is expected to you when you bat at No. 4. We don’t want a strike rate of 300, we want a strike-rate where you are taking the team home. He has done it in the past and he can do it again. With that goodness in talent, comes a little sense of wanting to do that much better for the team.”
Pant will be next seen in the upcoming ODI and T20I series against West Indies.
