Mohammad Kaif Explains Reason Behind Rishabh Pant's Contrasting Performances In IPL And International Cricket
Published - 14 Jul 2020, 11:26 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:31 AM
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Former India batsmen Aakash Chopra and Mohammad Kaif recently talked about Rishabh Pant’s contrasting performance in the IPL and in international cricket. The highly-rated batsman has been one of the best performers in the IPL since making his debut in 2016.
Barring the first season when he played just ten games, the Delhi Capitals star has scored more than 350 runs in all the other seasons so far. Last year, he scored 488 runs and helped Delhi Capitals progress ahead of the league stage for the first time since 2012. In 2018, he had scored a staggering 684 runs in just 14 games while in 2017, he had scored 366 runs.
However, his performance in international cricket has not really been up to the mark. Rishabh Pant started his career with a bang as he scored Test century in England and Australia. However, he has not played any impressive knock since the century in Sydney in January last year.
Last year, he lost his place in the Test team as India recalled Wriddhiman Saha in the playing XI for the home season. He returned to the playing XI during the tour of New Zealand but failed to make a mark. The wicketkeeper-batsman has already lost his place in the limited-overs format.
Kaif’s take on Rishabh Pant’s failure:
Speaking to Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel, Kaif opined that the reason behind Rishabh Pant’s poor performance in international cricket is Team India’s failure to assign him a definite role. Kaif, who is the assistant coach of Delhi Capitals, stated that the IPL franchise has a definite role for the batsmen.
He revealed that the coaching staff decided the southpaw would bat for at least ten overs during the match. He also said that Pant has been given the freedom to play as a finisher.
“Rishabh Pant is a free flowing player. If you set his batting number, the number of overs he would get to bat and if you clear his mind, he will start attacking right from the start,” said Kaif.
“At Delhi Capitals, we decided that Pant should get at least 10 overs to bat. The batting spot did not matter but the number of overs did. The Indian team has so far failed to do it. A finisher should get a role that suits him. The Indian team is yet to find the right slot for Pant but in IPL, we have managed to do so,” he added.
