Rishabh Pant As Dominant As Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid: Suresh Raina
India batsman Suresh Raina has compared young Rishabh Pant with legendary cricketers like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. The left-handed batsman was interacting with his India teammate Yuzvendra Chahal on Instagram when he lavished praise on the wicketkeeper-batsman.
After taking Test cricket by storm, Rishabh Pant has failed to deliver in the last few months. Towards the start of 2020, Rishabh Pant lost his place in the playing eleven across formats. At the start of the home season last year, India recalled veteran Wriddhiman Saha in the playing eleven to keep the wickets on the turning pitches. The decision turned out to be a masterstroke as Saha did a splendid job behind the stumps.
India persisted with Rishabh Pant in the ODI and T20I teams as MS Dhoni was not available. However, the left-handed batsman failed to grab the chance. He suffered concussion during the first ODI against Australia while batting in January and KL Rahul kept wicket when India took the field. Since then, Rishabh Pant has been on the bench in the limited-overs format as Rahul has done brilliantly as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
He got a chance in Tests during the tour of New Zealand but failed to make it count as the Black Caps thrashed the Virat Kohli-led side in both the games. And while only time will tell whether Rishabh Pant manages to live up to the expectations or not, Suresh Raina has called him as dominant as some of India’s greatest ever batsmen.
“For me, he (Rishabh Pant) is a top cricketer, a very strong player. When he plays it makes me happy. He is as dominant as batting greats like Yuvraj, Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid,” Suresh Raina said talking to Chahal on Instagram live.
If not for the pandemic, Raina, Pant and Chahal would have been playing in the IPL right now. The thirteenth edition of the tournament was set to get underway on March 29 but the BCCI has suspended the league indefinitely in the light of the pandemic.
