VVS Laxman Heaps Praise On Rishabh Pant After Youngster Scores Maiden Half-Century in ODIs

Former India batsman VVS Laxman was highly impressed with Rishabh Pant’s 71-run knock in the first ODI of the series against West Indies in Chennai. During his post-match show on Star Sports, Laxman heaped praise on the youngster and also lauded him for adjusting while playing against pacers on Chennai’s slow pitch.

Rishabh has been under the scanner of late but his knock in a tough situation would have impressed the team management, which continues the back the youngster in the absence of MS Dhoni.

“Good to see him get back that confidence because he is a confident player. We know what he has gone through over the last 4-5 months. The way he was using the crease against the fast bowlers, just to make sure that he got used to the pace of the wicket. I thought it was a very matured knock,” Laxman said on Star Sports.

“He is a positive character. He will be happy he at least go to the half-century, especially in difficult conditions and tough situations after all the top 3 batsmen who India rely on were back in the dressing room. Probably, down the line, he will be disappointed he didn’t convert the fifty into a century. He had a lot of time left,” he added.

Coming into bat after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, Rishabh took his time at the start. He first adjusted himself on the crease and only played shots once he was confident of doing so. Shreyas Iyer, on his part, kept the scoreboard ticking.

Both the batsmen put up 114 runs for the fourth wicket. Rishabh scored his maiden half-century before being dismissed on 71. Given that a play of 10 overs was still left, he had his chance to touch the three-figure mark for the first time in ODIs but missed out.

Though the innings was a big confidence booster for him, especially after he failed to live up to the expectations in the T20I series. India scored a defendable total of 287/8 in 50 overs.

Chasing the target, West Indies lost an early wicket of Sunil Ambris but Shimron Hetmyer (139) and Shai Hope (101*) added 218 runs for the second wicket to put their team right behind the chase.

The visiting team scaled the total in 48th over with eight wickets still in hand. The second ODI of the series will be played on Wednesday in Vizag.