IND vs SL: Rishabh Pant Will Become India's Highest Run-Scoring Wicketkeeper-Batter In Tests - Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said Rishabh Pant has worked with his range of shots that helped him to score quickfire runs in the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka. Pant scored the fastest fifty by an Indian batter in Test cricket.

The southpaw hammered seven boundaries and a couple of sixes batting at a strike rate of 161.29. The wicketkeeper-batter heaved, drove, slashed, cut, swept, reverse-swept, chopped and did everything under his belt to play his array of strokes against the Sri Lankan bowlers. Pant drove Praveen Jayawickrama for a boundary through extra cover to bring up his fastest fifty.

Pant broke Kapil Dev’s 40-year-old record to score the fastest half-century in red-ball cricket by an Indian batter. The former Indian skipper had made 50 off 30 deliveries against Pakistan in 1982 in Karachi.

Rishabh Pant now tries to find a way to stay on the pitch: Irfan Pathan

Irfan observed that Pant has improved his game in terms of scoring in the off-side region and also deploys defensive batting while playing his shots.

“There is a method for sure, but what has impressed me the most is that there has been improvement in his method. Earlier he used to play shots only on the leg side but now plays shots on the off-side as well,” Irfan said on Star Sports. 

“He now tries to find a way to stay on the pitch, doesn’t only try to hit. The record-breaking knock we saw, it was not that he didn’t play a defensive shot at all. The defence was also there,” he added.

Rishabh Pant will become India’s highest run-scoring wicketkeeper-batter in Tests: Irfan Pathan

Pant has amassed 1920 runs in 51 Test innings at an average of 40.85 since he made his debut against England at Trent Bridge in 2018. With 5570 runs from 96 Tests, former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam  Gilchrist leads the chart of most runs by a gloveman in Test cricket and MS Dhoni is in third place with 4876 runs in red-ball cricket.

Irfan is confident that Pant will end up scoring the most runs by an Indian wicketkeeper in the oldest format when the player retires from the game.

“He is just a 24-year-old boy, and at such a young age, so much improvement has been seen in his cricket. I believe by the time he finishes his cricket career, there is still a long way to go, you will see him play 10 years of international cricket for sure, he will become India’s highest run-scoring wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, I have no doubt about that,” Irfan said. 

Pant scored 96 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. He has four Test centuries, three of them have come in England (The Oval), Australia (SCG) and South Africa (Newlands).

Also Read: IND vs SL: There Is A Lot Of Method In Rishabh Pant’s Game: Wasim Jaffer