Rashid Latif Slams Rishabh Pant’s Slow Batting At No.4 In South Africa ODIs

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif the way India batter-keeper Rishabh Pant batted at no.4 spot during the recent three-match ODI series against South Africa. Pant batted at 4 in all three matches, scoring 16, 85, and 0, but despite the half-century, he hit in the second game in Paarl, Latif feels that had there been any other batter, he would have scored a minimum of 150 runs and stayed till the end.

In 21 ODIs, Pant has batted at No. 4 in 11 matches, scoring 331 runs at an average of 30.09. Such opportunity arose as Rohit Sharma was not available for the three ODIs due to his hamstring injury which made him miss the entire South Africa tour itself.

It Will Be Interesting To See How Much Longer Rishabh Pant Plays At No. 4: Rashid Latif

Rishabh Pant has not translated his Test success into limited-overs thus far. He has 630 runs in 21 ODI matches with 4 half-centuries to his name with the highest score of 85 which came recently against South Africa. In 41 T20Is, Pant has 623 runs with 2 fifties to his name. In ODIs, he scores his runs at a strike rate of 113.10, and in T20Is at a strike rate of 122.87.

Rashid Latif was not happy with the speed at which Rishabh Pant batted in the South Africa ODI series.

“It will be interesting to see how much longer Rishabh Pant plays at No. 4. At that position, you need a player who can take the game until the finish. Any other batter at 4 would have scored 150 and not even get out. When you are not winning, all players look ordinary, be in Kohli or Dhawan or Iyer… Pant played well but the rest looked ordinary,” Latif said in a video on the YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’.

However, with Rohit Sharma slated to return as the opener in the upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies, Rishabh Pant will be expected to return to the no.5 spot with KL Rahul expected to bat at no.4 to lend the fragile middle-order some stability. Shikhar Dhawan had done enough to continue opening in the ODIs.

With India’s focus being the T20 World Cup later this year and the 2023 World Cup on home soil, the key is to find a line-up that strikes balance.

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