Rishabh Pant Needs To Be Very Determined And Focused On His Fitness, Advises Salman Butt

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has advised India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant needs to be determined and focused on his fitness to keep playing international cricket in the longer run. Pant was rested ahead of the two-match Test series against New Zealand at home to avoid bio-bubble fatigues.

The wicket-keeper batsman will be the first choice in the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa on their backyard starting from December 26. He had a tremendous time with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year and the four-match Test series against England at home.

Apart from Pant, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari and Shardul Thakur will join the team for South Africa to strengthen their team. In the home series against New Zealand, these players were rested to keep them fresh ahead of the South Africa tour. Meanwhile, Salman Butt was asked to predict Pant’s future to which he said that the 24-year-old need to work on his fitness.

Salman Butt explains what Rishabh Pant needs to do

“It’s the start of his career, he has shown glimpses of brilliance. But he needs to be very determined and focussed on his fitness,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel when he was asked to predict Pant’s future over the next 5-6 years.

“When you look at him, you’d feel that if he loses focus, he will gain weight very soon. The thing with him is he isn’t the tallest guy too, so the lack of fitness will show on his body as well”

The former Pakistan skipper added that Pant is super talented but needs to translate it into match-winning performances. He further added that he needs to spend more time on the pitch before playing the big shots.

“He is super talented. But he has to translate it to big performances. He needs to think before playing his shots. Sometimes, he becomes very predictable, especially in Test cricket. He would step out and go for big hits. He needs to spend some time in the middle,” the former Pakistan skipper added.

The Roorkee-born has played 25 Tests for India since making his debut against England. He has amassed 1549 runs with three hundred and seven fifties at an average of 39.71