Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel has expressed surprise that Rishabh Pant hasn’t been able to perform as per his ability in white-ball formats for India. Pant has delivered consistently for India in the red-ball version but he hasn’t been able to replicate the same success in limited-over formats.
The wicket-keeper was not picked in the ongoing series against the West Indies but he led Rest of India in the Irani Cup in the domestic circuit.
Patel said Pant is as important as Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli as captain in the red-ball version of the game.
“I am very surprised looking at Pant’s white-ball numbers. He has not been able to perform as per his ability in ODIs, T20Is, or in the IPL. That is something which I find like a puzzle. I would like to solve it if given an opportunity. In Test cricket, Pant is as important as Bumrah or Kohli the captain. He has won a lot of games. The way he plays, there will always be criticism. But the success ratio is very high. This is why he is that X factor. You cannot tell him to be more responsible,” Patel said in a podcast with former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
The former Gujarat captain said Pant is not often appreciated for his glovework behind the stumps.
“I think his wicket-keeping skills are not appreciated enough. He will not appear to you as technical as Wriddhiman Saha. But he drops very few catches. He has that consistency even on difficult pitches. If you criticise him when he gets out, you have no right to praise him when he steps out and smashes sixes. As a complete package, he is definitely India’s best as a wicket-keeper batter.”
Patel reckons Pant needs to find the right tempo in his batting in ODIs as he must look to rotate strike like Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli.
“I feel you need a tempo in one-day cricket. It’s not only about hitting fours or sixes. You need the ability to take singles and also the will to do it. You need both, the way Kohli and Gill bat. That is where he needs to find the tempo. When you are the second keeper, you are almost invisible and then when someone has a breakthrough domestic season, as Ishan Kishan did, you are replaced. I know how it is for a second wicket-keeper,” Parthiv Patel said.
Pant will be next seen in action in the two-match Test series against New Zealand.
