Former New Zealand batter Ian Smith has lauded Rishabh Pant’s attitude after heroics against Bangladesh in the opening Test match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Pant returned with scores of 39 and 109 in the first Test match, which India won by a mammoth margin of 280 runs.

Smith said if you will ask Pant to open the innings, he will not hesitate to open. Pant was making a comeback to Test cricket after a long hiatus of 629 days but he was able to hit the ground running in his favorite form.

Speaking on talkSPORT cricket, Smith said, “Rishabh Pant… I like him because he’s just got that attitude. He’s not going to run away from a fight. If you ask him to open, he’ll open. If you ask him to bat at 5, he’ll do it. He is probably not the best gloveman the world has ever seen but he is working on it, getting better at it.

“And that’s efficient because you spend so much of your day standing close to the stumps. He is a given, for me. He is Gilchrist-like in that regard. I rate him very highly.”

Pant has scored 2419 runs in 34 Test matches at an average of more than 45, including six centuries and 11 fifties.

Smith also shed light on the Pant vs Dhoni discussion. The renowned commentator said it is pretty hard to go past MS, as he had a glorious career.

“I like Pant as a cricketer. It’s an extremely important role and he’s got massive shoes to fill because they’ve had a revolving door since Dhoni to be perfectly honest. You talk about hero factor, it’s pretty hard to go past MS,” said Smith.

“But once you reach a certain stage in Indian cricket and you start to perform at the international level, your life changes dramatically. You become a superstar beyond anything most sporting people would be akin to,” he added.

The second Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played at Green Park, Kanpur from September 27.