Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer believes Rishabh Pant would benefit from opening his stance a little. Pant hasn’t been able to grab his opportunities in the shortest format of the game despite having all the talent under his belt.
The left-hander hasn’t been performing consistently for the team in the T20I format. Recently it was noticed that Pant was getting dismissed while chasing the outside off-stump deliveries.
The Delhi batter could only score 58 runs in the four matches he played against South Africa earlier in the year and he was troubled by Keshav Maharaj at the off-stump line.
Jaffer said on ESPN Cricinfo, “I think Rishabh Pant would benefit from opening his stance a little because he prefers to play his shots on the leg side. South Africa definitely must have done their homework coming into the series, because in the last series, they kept their lines well outside off and did not give him any pace to work with and that is not Pant’s strong suit.”
Jaffer feels taking middle and the off-stump guard will help the southpaw in countering the situation.
“Teams will try to not bowl in Rishabh Pant’s arc. So, he can try to take a middle or an off-stump guard.”
Jaffer added: “With this, he can hit the balls to the leg side if itis targeted at the stump and he can access the deliveries outside the off stump in a better way as well.”
As Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya will miss the series against South Africa, there is a good chance that Rishabh Pant could be included in the playing XI against the Proteas.
Meanwhile, Pant has a good record while playing in the Australian conditions and he can also provide a left-handed option to the team in the middle order in the absence of injured Ravindra Jadeja.
