Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Deep Dasgupta stated that he can’t imagine Rishabh Pant getting dropped from the Test side.
Pant has proved his mettle in the red-ball version as he has played some incredible knocks against Australia and England.
Pant scored a match-saving knock of 97 runs against the Aussies in Sydney and also played a match-winning knock of 89 runs at the Gabba in the historic Test match. The southpaw has helped India win some memorable Test matches in his young red-ball career.
The left-hander has the skills to change the match on its head and he can take the game away from the opposition with his blistering batting. But Pant has come under the scanner after he played a rash shot against South Africa in the second innings of the second Test match at the Wanderers, Johannesburg.
A lot of cricket pundits went on to criticize Pant’s shot selection and he has definitely come under scrutiny. In fact, since WTC Final against New Zealand, Rishabh Pant has scored only 250 runs in his last 13 innings at a meager average of 19.23.
Deep Dasgupta said while talking to Sportskeeda, “While Wriddhi is a great wicketkeeper, I can’t imagine dropping Rishabh from Tests. Do you remember his exploits in Australia last year?
Yes, he did play a bad shot to get out at the Wanderers, but the team management should show faith in him. We must understand that Rishabh likes to play his cricket a certain way and it has fetched him enough success so far. What you don’t want at this stage is him losing his confidence”.
The former gloveman added that you want Rishabh Pant to continue with his aggressive approach as he can win matches for India single-handedly. In fact, Pant has done a fine job thus far but he can show more maturity in his shot selection.
Dasgupta added, “You would want Rishabh to bat the way he does because he has the ability to win you a match single-handedly. And that’s a rare ability to possess. He’ll get better as he matures with time. His leadership role at Delhi Capitals will also help him in the process. Sitting on a couch at home, it’s easy to remark that one should curb his natural instincts. When the shots come off perfectly, they look good. His wicketkeeping skills have also improved considerably over the past two years. As I said before, we should ensure that he doesn’t lose his confidence. He’ll figure things out, don’t worry”.
Rishabh Pant will look to grab his opportunity in the third Test match against South Africa, which will be played at Cape Town.
