IPL 2020: Aakash Chopra Explains The Reason Behind Rishabh Pant's Dismal Form This Year

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has revealed the reason behind Rishabh Pant’s lean run in IPL 2020. Rishabh Pant is a vital cog of the Delhi Capitals this year and while the franchise has prospered, the keeper-batsman is yet to perform consistently. Aakash Chopra opines that the youngster is misfiring since the fans have pinned their hopes on him.

Rishabh Pant has had a mediocre season of IPL this year, having managed 217 runs in eight matches without any half-century. While his average of 30 is decent, the left-handed batsman’s strike rate of 117 is troublesome. In the last game against Kolkata Knight Riders, the youngster managed 27 off 33 deliveries at a strike rate of nearly 81.

The spotlight increased on him after the BCCI refused to name in the white-ball squads for the tour of Australia. For his reputation as a swashbuckling keeper-batsman, Pant has not enjoyed a flourishing limited-overs international career, averaging 26.71 in ODIs and 20.50 in T20 internationals. Instead, the selectors have opted for Sanju Samson in T20Is, who has fared reasonably better.

“Rishabh Pant’s strike rate has not been good this year” : Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra underlined that Rishabh Pant has underperformed since there are massive expectations from him. The 42-year old observed the partnership between him and Shreyas Iyer where Pant was not even trying to hit the ball, signalling that the form is far from him. Aakash highlighted that it is not the Rishabh Pant we know, revealing that his IPL 2020 strike rate is poor.

“Pant is misfiring because you have hopes from him. There was a partnership between Iyer and Pant where Iyer was trying but Pant was not seen hitting at all. It seemed his form is far away from him. That is not the kind of Pant innings we know. His strike rate has not been good this year. His average might be alright but his ability to hit is not coming to the fore and if that happens, it will not work out,” Chopra told in his Youtube channel.

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