Give Rishabh Pant Breathing Space By Slotting Him At Number 5 - Sunil Gavaskar

Amidst all the ruckus, the former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar asks the Indian team management to make Rishabh Pant bat down the order. He believes that the youngster would deliver the goods if he is put in the difficult phase of the game.

Rishabh Pant may have established himself as the front-runner to succeed MS Dhoni as the regular wicket-keeper for the Indian cricket team but the youngster’s journey has not been without its fair share of criticism. The youngster has come under a lot of fire for his reckless shot selection and the last few matches have not yielded the desired result for Pant.

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Rishabh Pant has to bear in mind the fickle nature of the fans – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar suggests the management to send Shreyas Iyer at number 4 in the shorter version of the game while Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya will look after the finishing roles. He feels that Rishabh Pant has got the talent to serve the Indian team for a long time.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has come under scrutiny in recent times following his poor run of form and shot selection. The recent being his batting performance in the second T20I against South Africa in Mohali on Wednesday.

“Giving him a bit of breathing space by slotting him at No. 5 could also help, for at that number he will invariably come in to bat where his aggressive batting is needed from the start rather than when he has to build his and the team’s innings,” Gavaskar said in his column in Mid-Day.

“In Pant’s case, it’s more of a case of wrong shot selection than anything else. People talk about him getting out to the first ball in Trinidad (during India’s previous series) but those same people were wah wahing (praising) his audacity in hitting the second ball he faced for a six in his debut innings (in Tests). So the young man has to bear in mind the fickle nature of the Indian fans and play the way he knows,” said Gavaskar.

However, Pant’s inconsistency and poor shot-selection are hurting the team’s interest as head coach Ravi Shastri had recently pointed out. Batting coach Vikram Rathour too reminded the team’s youngsters about the difference between a “fearless and careless” approach. It would be interesting to see whether there will be a change in his batting order or not.

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