In the ongoing five-Test series against England, India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has failed to make a significant score. No other cricketer’s stock has risen as much as Pant’s in the last ten months, a period during which he has single-handedly rescued the team out of danger and claimed triumphs that the squad could not have imagined.
Pant’s courageous 89 in a 328-run chase, which guided India to one of their best wins, was the key to India outsmarting Australia in their fortress Gabba.
During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2021-21, which India won 2-1, the southpaw scored 274 at a fantastic 68.50 in five innings and followed that up with an excellent home series against England, where he totalled 270 at 54 in six innings, including a century.
All of that has disappeared, as Pant finds himself in a hole in the current series, having accumulated 87 runs in five innings, a dismal average of 17.40, and being frequently troubled by Ollie Robinson. More than the absence of points, the style of dismissals and Pant’s approach to the game’s longest format are once again being scrutinized.
Michael Vaughan offers Pant a suggestion
Former England captain Michael Vaughan offered Pant some advice, saying that he should abandon his ultra-aggressive approach. Vaughan also stated that if India decides to play R Ashwin in the fourth Test, he will adjust his batting order.
Michael added, “If I would be the captain, I would move him to 7, If Ravichandran Ashwin going to bat at No. 8, I would move Rishabh to 7.”
“Go for it, don’t be ultra-aggressive, he is trying to play technically, he is a better player when he plays cross-batted shots, dancing down and playing at 45-degree angle hook shot on the offside”
“Rishabh is still the most exciting cricketer in the world, and he is having one of those periods where he has not found out. But it’s a difficult place [England] to bat, where ball still moves around, even though he came at No. 6 ball still moves”.
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