Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has showered praiseworthy comments on Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant after his brilliant 91-run knock in the ongoing Chennai Test between India and England.
Pant came to bat when India were reeling at 73/4, having lost both Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession. The left-handed batsman destroyed English bowling with a counter-attack. He especially demolished England spinner Jack Leach and dispatched him out of the park on a few occasions.
Pant formed a crucial 119-run stand for the fifth wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 73 off 143 balls before getting dismissed in an unlucky manner.
Hussain praised Rishabh for his no-fear style batting and called him a game-changing talent for India. The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that India wouldn’t have won the Gabba Test in Brisbane if Pant had lacked self-belief.
“Rishabh Pant is an incredible, game-changing talent. If he hadn’t batted in his no-fear style, if he lacked any self-belief, then India would not have won that match in Brisbane last month that completed their greatest ever series victory,” Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
“Pant does not think about getting out; he just sees the attacking option and knows what he can achieve. If he was a cricketer that worried about what things look like when you get out cheaply, he would not be engineering the kind of result that shocked Australia and thrilled the world at the Gabba,” he added.
Hussian compared Pant with England all-rounder Ben Stokes and said the attitude of both the players are the same, and both believe in playing attacking cricket.
“His attitude is like that of Ben Stokes. What is the difference when you have scored 91 if you are caught at short leg or the midwicket boundary? Yesterday, it made for much more exciting viewing to have Pant playing that kind of innings,” Hussain wrote further.
