IND vs SL: The Hallmark Of This Test Personally For Him Would Be How Well He Kept – Dinesh Karthik Hails Rishabh Pant For His Wicket-keeping In 1st Test

Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has lauded the young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for his wicket-keeping in the first Test match of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in Mohali.

Young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant batted brilliantly well against the Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka but he fell 4 runs short of a century at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh. He was able to score 96 runs off 97 balls including 9 fours and 4 sixes.

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Meanwhile, Karthik highlighted the dismissal of Sri Lanka batter Pathum Nissanka in Ravichandran Ashwin’s over and lauded Pant by saying that his hands were at the right place behind the stumps that helped him grab the catch.

“His batting is phenomenal and we can speak a lot about that. But I think the hallmark of this Test personally for him would be how well he kept,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz. 

“Pathum Nissanka’s catch was brilliant. Whenever an offspinner bowls into the rough a little bit and the ball is turning in, it is a hard one to take because you never know which one is going to straighten and which one will turn. On top of that if it deviates off the bat it becomes that much harder and that is where I like Pant. His hands were at the right place,” he said. 

I liked both the catches he took – Dinesh Karthik

Karthik further added that Pant was earlier not very good behind the stumps and he had some technical flaws but he has worked hard and made massive improvements.

“When you stand close in you need to practice so much for getting your hands in the right place. It needs to be second nature to you because you don’t have time. You need to have your instincts working better than people who do it in the outfield and for that, you have to put in some hard work. Repetition is very important and the amount of work he has put in off the field is reflecting on his keeping. 

“Why he couldn’t do it before is obviously a technical flaw and he has worked on that over time. It takes a little bit of time to settle in and he looked solid in this game. I liked both the catches he took. He was low and making sure the hands were soft. There are just milliseconds between the ball coming off the bat and for it to go (into the gloves),” said Karthik. 

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