Ever since making his debut for India, Rishabh Pant has found himself in constant scrutiny and has been arguably the favourite subject of cricket experts’ analysis.
Pant’s exploits in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has garnered a lot of praise and attention. However, his failure to replicate the same for the national side has been quite perplexing for the viewers.
Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Mohammad Kaif has revealed an insightful reason behind Pant’s struggle in the Indian team and what makes him a different player for the Delhi-based franchise.
“Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. You have to set his batting position, that he will bat at this position and he will get this many overs to play. He needs to be clear in his head that he will get this many overs so that he is not thinking whether he needs to take singles, or if he needs to defend,” Kaif told Aakash Chopra in his YouTube show ‘Aakashvani’.
“He is an attacking batsman, he should start hitting attacking shots from the first ball,” he added.
The former Indian batsman further remarked that the clarity and well-defined responsibility at DC helps Pant to plan his innings accordingly.
“So, at Delhi Capitals, me, Dada and Ricky Ponting discussed a few times that whether to send Pant at no. 3 or no. 4. But later we decided that Pant should get at least 60 balls to play. It doesn’t matter which position he is batting at, he needs to get final 10 overs. This thing has not yet been decided by Indian team,” the 39-year-old remarked.
“He sometimes bats in the 15th over in a 50-over match. A finisher or an attacking batsman should be given the same role. The Indian team has not been able to figure out Pant’s batting slot right now. But in IPL, we have figured it out. This is why he has played great in IPL, because he plays with a free-flow cricket,” concluded Kaif.
