Rishabh Pant’s struggle continued in the 3rd T20I against South Africa at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday (Sept 22). The wicket-keeper batsman lost his wicket on a delivery pitched outside off, trying to loft it over long-off giving a simple catch to Andile Phehlukwayo.
The Indian team management has been supportive of the youngster Rishabh Pant who has been a part of ‘fearless vs. careless’ debate. Pant scored a total of 488 and 684 runs respectively in the last two IPL seasons but has a score of fewer than five runs on seven occasions in the previous eleven T20I innings.
Former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar feels that the team management should send Pant at No. 5 to allow him to play his natural game.
“Giving him a bit of breathing space by slotting him at No. 5 could also help, for at that number he will invariably come in to bat where his aggressive batting is needed from the start rather than when he has to build his and the team’s innings,” quoted Gavaskar for Mid-Day.
Gavaskar believes that Pant needs to work on his shot selection and that would come as the youngster plays more cricket. “With experience he will be better at shot selection and will be more consistent but right now he needs a hand around his shoulders rather than a public dressing down,” said Gavaskar.
“The most important thing for the young man to understand is that he has to play according to the situation and not according to the expectations of the public,” Gavaskar added.
There has been a lot of discussions regarding Pant’s poor batting display and trying other available options. Players such as Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have performed well in the recent domestic season.
India is up against Bangladesh for its next T20I challenge, starting from Nov 3, 2019.
