ICC World Cup 2019: R Sridhar Not Impressed With Rishabh Pant's Fielding

India’s fielding coach R Sridhar is not impressed with the technique of Rishabh Pant’s fielding. Pant is not the fastest of the fielders for India and thus Sridhar believes that the prodigy batsman needs to work on his fielding. Furthermore, R Sridhar is also not impressed with Pant’s technique.

In fact, Rishabh Pant is a wicketkeeper and hence he has not done a lot of fielding in his young career. Meanwhile, as  MS Dhoni’s dons the gloves for the Indian team, Pant has to field if he gets a chance in the playing XI. However, Rishabh Pant is expected to take gloves once MS Dhoni retires from the white ball format. In fact, there have been reports that Dhoni will hang his boots after the conclusion of the World Cup.

Pant is not the best of fielders.

“A lot of work has to go into him (Pant). First of all, he needs to improve his technique in throwing and also needs to be a little more athletic to be an outfielder,” Sridhar said.

Meanwhile, R Sridhar added that MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli needs to find a special position for Pant as he is not the best of fielders. In fact, it is not easy for Pant to field in the outfield as he has kept the wickets all his life.

“We have to use him in suitable (fielding) positions, that is what Virat and MS are keen on. Keep him at the right places at the right time. In the last game (vs England), he saved at least five runs which is a huge bonus. He took a catch as well,” the fielding coach said.

On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik who is a wicketkeeper is a better fielder than Rishabh Pant. However, Karthik has more experience under his belt as compared to rookie Pant. Karthik can make good safes at the backward point region.

“Obviously, Dinesh despite being a wicketkeeper is a good outfielder. He pulls off some good saves at backward point. Rishabh is developing and he needs to do this a bit more to develop the awareness, to get a hang of it. That’s why we harp about getting fielders in same positions so that they get an idea.”

On the other hand, India booked their semifinal berth after beating Bangladesh by 28 runs. Rishabh Pant also played a key role in India’s triumph as he scored 48 runs for the team in quick time.

India will face Sri Lanka in their last league match on 6th Jully.