Gautam Gambhir is happy with the way Rishabh Pant is batting at the moment.
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir doesn't want wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to change his batting style. He is happy that Pant is playing his natural game.
Rishabh Pant kept playing his shots in the first Test against England despite coming in to bat with India 73/4. The attacking nature of the left-hander does take Team India out of trouble quite quickly but also produces some questionable shots like the one he played on 91.
Pant attacked Bess with a heave that was caught in the deep on the off-side and continued getting out in the 90s.
Gautam Gambhir told ESPNCricInfo, "I would never want Rishabh Pant to change. Because the more you put things in his mind, he would start defending more. He would start thinking about his shot selection."
"But he's very instinctive and you like players who are very instinctive. Sometimes you have to take that with a rub of salt as well, when you say why do you have to go and do that (hit a shot) when you are in the 90s. It's a given 100, it's on a platter," he added.
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The 39-year-old also points out that the attacking nature of Pant pulls the team out of danger. Thus, Gambhir wants Pant to keep doing what he does but just improve his shot selection and decide which bowler to take on and which bowler not to take on.
He said, "But then you get things like this as well - when you are under pressure, he will take the team out of that situation very quickly. So, I would rather tell him to be exactly what he does and just keep improving his shot selection and his mental state of mind of who to take on and who not to take on."
"Don't tell him to develop a defense or a better technique or become more technically sound. Because the more you become technically sound, you start thinking about what ball to hit, what not to hit, and it starts playing with your instincts. I want Pant to be an instinctive player for as long as he plays," Gambhir concluded.