Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been under fire following his rough patch with the bat in the white-ball cricket. Pant, who was named India’s stand-in captain for the recently-concluded T20I series against South Africa, failed to contribute much with the willow. The explosive left-handed batter could only manage 58 runs in 5 innings.
Amid the criticism of Pant from all corners, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has come up with a solution that can assist Pant in getting away from the batting woes in the limited-overs format.
Bangar cited Sachin Tendulkar‘s example, stating the batting phenom found his consistency after he was sent up to open the innings in the 50-over format, and something similar can be tried with Pant. Bangar reckoned that if Pant gets the chance to open the innings for Team India, he can do the same job that legendary Adam Gilchrist did for Australia in the limited-overs cricket.
“I’ve been thinking about it for 3 years. If you look at Sachin Tendulkar’s career, he hit his first century in his 75th or 76th innings in white-ball cricket when he was asked to open the innings against New Zealand after batting largely in the middle-order,” said Bangar on Star Sports.
“Right now, the Indian team is looking at a left-right combination. Yes, Ishan Kishan is doing well right now, but if the Indian team is eyeing a left-right opening pair for the long term, Rishabh Pant can do the same job that someone like Adam Gilchrist did for Australia,” he added.
