ICC World Cup 2019: Rishabh Pant Made A Big Statement At Edgbaston, Says Sachin Tendulkar

The young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant made his World Cup debut against England replacing Vijay Shankar who was out due to a little niggle. Despite playing his first game, Pant didn’t show any nerves which earned praise from all quarters. India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar who was present at Edgbaston heaped praise on Pant saying that he made a big statement with his knock.

Tendulkar heaps praise on young Pant

Batting first, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow took the attack to the opposition when Virat Kohli introduced Yuzvendra Chahal in the powerplays. There was no respite for Kuldeep Yadav as well as they both conceded 160 runs from 20 over picking the only wicket of Roy. Although Mohammed Shami picked a fifer, but Ben Stokes’s late carnage propelled them to a massive total at Birmingham.

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India revived well courtesy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after an early departure of KL Rahul. They both added 138 runs but didn’t look in delicate touch before Kohli got out after making another fifty. The dismissal brought Rishabh Pant who batted with great authority during a tricky situation in his debut game. He scored 32 off 29 balls getting out while clearing the grounds at square leg. MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav slowed down the game and eventually, India lost the match by 31 runs.

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Despite the loss, Sachin Tendulkar heaped praise on young Rishabh Pant. He said that the young batsman made a statement with a small knock against England. Tendulkar also revealed that he calls Pant by the name dynamite.

“Rishabh went out and made a big statement. But also number of elements that one would have to look at, if there is an injury on the field then who comes and completes those overs (hinting at Vijay Shankar). What I saw of Rishabh, he’s always been a dynamic player, always been aggressive. I call him dynamite,” Sachin Tendulkar told India Today.

Vice-captain @ImRo45 lightened up the post-match press conference when asked about Rishabh Pant ?? #TeamIndia #ENGvIND #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NSv3zVqFT3

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2019

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Furthermore, when asked if India should play Rishabh Pant instead of Vijay Shankar for the rest of the tournament, Sachin Tendulkar said he would leave that decision to the team management.

“It would be unfair to stand here and pass judgements. What eventually the coach and captain feels in the dressing room, there are number of things that come into play. What I saw of Rishabh Pant I liked but I leave the decision to the team management,” he concluded.

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