IND vs SA: I Would Want Rishabh Pant To Focus More On His Batting Than His Batting Position – Ashish Nehra
Published - 17 Jun 2022, 12:37 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:09 AM
Former India left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra has said that he wants stand-in India captain Rishabh Pant to focus more on his batting rather than his batting position in the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
Young India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who was given captaincy responsibility in the absence of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, has not had a good run with the bat in the home T20I series against South Africa.
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Pant batted very well in the first game against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi as he smashed quick 29 runs.
However, in the second match at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, he scored 5 runs and in the third match at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, he registered the score of 6 runs. Also, he has got out in a similar fashion in all three innings.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Nehra pinpointed that the Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting had said that Pant was disappointed with his performance in the Indian Premier League 2022. He said:
“If you look at the IPL this year, Ricky Ponting had said that Rishabh Pant was very unhappy with his performances in the season. Now, Rishabh might only be 24, but he has been playing in the IPL for five years now. So, he is an experienced player now, at least in this format.”
It is important he doesn’t take too much pressure upon himself – Ashish Nehra on Rishabh Pant
Nehra further said that Pant has a lot of experience in T20 cricket and he wants to get better as there is a lot of competition in the scene.
“Such experiences give confidence to players. From here, he wants to be better. He’s playing at the no. 4 role in international cricket, and obviously, there will always be pressure on him because there’s a lot of competition. Suryakumar Yadav is there, Virat Kohli will also return in future. That will happen. In this series, I would want Rishabh Pant to focus more on his batting than his batting position,” Nehra said on Cricbuzz.
Nehra added that the head coach Rahul Dravid and all-rounder Hardik Pandya should make sure that Pant doesn’t take too much pressure on himself.
“It (the batting position) doesn’t make a big difference. How he captains, how much better can he perform.. he needs only one innings to get his mindset changed. It is important he doesn’t take too much pressure upon himself. Senior players like Hardik Pandya and even Rahul Dravid should help him there,” said Nehra further.
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