He Doesn't Think Much What Others Are Saying, Just Goes Out To Bat - Virender Sehwag Says Rishabh Pant Reminds Him Of His Early Days

Former India opener, Virender Sehwag says that Rishabh Pant’s attacking mindset is akin to that he had in the early phase of his career. Virender Sehwag’s comments came after the left-hander played a swashbuckling knock of 78 runs off 62 balls in the 3rd ODI against England helping India post a substantial total.

Pant’s knock in the 3rd ODI followed his another thunderous innings of 77 off 40 in the second ODI, after he was omitted from the first ODI. Virender Sehwag believes that Pant is the major positive for Team India from their series victory as he continued his rich vein of form.

“The biggest positive that has come out of the series is Rishabh Pant. Because when he comes to bat in the middle overs in the ODIs, and the 2nd powerplay comes up, he uses it perfectly. I feel it is important for him to stay in this team, he has quite a positive mindset. He reminds me of my early days. He doesn’t think much what others are saying, he just goes out to bat,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

He has to learn to convert 70s-80s into 100s: Virender Sehwag

The 42-year-old, however, reckons the left-hander should learn to capitalize on his starts and convert those in hundreds. In the 3rd ODI, Rishabh Pant missed out on his maiden ODI century as he got out before the 40th over. The former opener believes that if the youngster can develop the habit of converting his fifties to hundreds, he would be the ‘next superstar in white-ball cricket’.

“But only if he learns how to bat for full 50 overs, and bats till the end, and learns to convert 70s-80s into 100s, he could be the next superstar for India. The wicket was very good, the ground was short. Sometimes, you will get slow wickets, and you will not be able to hit your shots. How he gets out of those situations is very important to know, so he must know that.

“In the IPL, when he was not able to score runs, he must have changed something which was why he was able to score runs in Tests. But in ODIs, and in T20Is, if he learns to bat till the end, and make the most of my abilities, then he can be the next superstar in white-ball cricket,” the 2011 World Cup winner concluded.

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