Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has lauded the team management for promoting Rishabh Pant in the batting order. Pant scored a fine fifty in the warm-up match against Bangladesh and has grabbed his opportunity while batting at one down.

Pant scored a crucial knock of 36 runs off 26 balls in the opening match against Ireland at New York and then continued his rich form, scoring a vital knock of 42 runs off just 31 balls against arch-rivals Pakistan to help his team post 119 runs on the board.

Furthermore, Pant scored 18 runs against the USA but was dismissed on a ball that kept slightly low. Pant has scored 96 runs in three matches of the T20 World Cup at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 124.67 and he is India’s leading run-getter in the tournament.

“They (team management) want more and more impact players, at every position down the order and Rishabh Pant, I didn’t expect him to be batting at No. 3, and what a brilliant move it has turned out to be, starting from that warm-up game against Bangladesh, when Samson and Rohit Sharma took some time to get used to the surface,” Manjrekar said on PTI.

Manjrekar tipped Pant as India’s best batter in the tournament as the left-hander has delivered the goods.

“Pant has showed his class. He has been India’s best batter in this tournament so far, and on a difficult pitch, and that is Rishabh Pant’s class. That they gave him the No. 3 slot also ensured that India don’t have six right-handers like they had in that 50-over World Cup and the only left-hander India had was Jadeja at No. 7,” Manjrekar added.

Meanwhile, Pant scored 446 runs in 13 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 40.55 and a strike rate of 155.40 while leading Delhi Capitals.

India will begin their Super 8 campaign against Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday.