Karthik also backed Rishabh Pant to play 100 Test for India.
Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has showered rich praise on Rishabh Pant, saying the youngster has been fabulous with the bat so far for India recently across the formats.
He further mentioned that Pant instills fear in the opposition with his audacious shots. Karthik also believes that Pant will play 100 Tests apart from a lot of white-ball cricket for India.
Citing Pant’s performance for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years, Karthik pointed out that the left-hander has played in some real high-pressure games so far in his career and even he put up some fabulous performances, including against Australia and England.
Karthik told Sports Today: “I think, in the short while that Rishabh has been around, he has put up some fabulous performances, he has played in some real high-pressure games. Be it the World Cup final, be it the IPL final and the beauty is he has done well in a lot of these games, personally.
I think he is someone who is always up for the challenge, in the IPL final he got a fifty. I remember, a couple of years ago, he won a game single-handedly for Delhi Capitals, I think it was the eliminator.”
He added, “In these crunch games, he has always found ways to get runs that show his ability to handle pressure. He really thrives under pressure. He played some fabulous innings for India in the last couple of series against Australia and England. I have no doubt that he will be an integral part of Indian cricket and be one of those who is going to play 100 Tests And a lot of white-ball cricket for India as well.”
The veteran cricketer further said while hailing the “special talent”, “He has got a terrific head on his shoulders. I think with the limited technical skill he has, he gets a lot of runs. He optimizes, he instills fear in the opposition because of the audacious shots he plays and they end up spreading the field but still, he ends up scoring runs, be it the red-ball or white-ball format.”
Karthik signed off by saying, “He is a very special player. He is somebody who is going constantly help Indian cricket move on to greater heights.”
Noteworthy, Pant will be seen in action soon when India takes on New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton from June 18.
(With India Today Inputs)