Pant scored 26 runs from 15 balls while opening the innings.
Former Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan on Saturday (10th July) lauded Team India’s move of promoting Rishabh Pant as an opener in the second T20I against England at Edgbaston.
The ongoing T20I series between England and India has seen the Rohit Sharma-led side follow a template of going after the bowlers right from the start no matter what.
They followed the aggressive approach in the two T20Is they played, the shade of which was seen in the second game when they surprised many by sending Pant to open the innings alongside Rohit.
Pant played a pretty impressive inning as he got off to a good start and stitched an attacking 49-run opening stand in 29 balls with the skipper. The keeper batter scored 26 from 15 deliveries, which included four fours and a six.
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Speaking to Cricbuzz, Zaheer Khan said that he’s curious to see how Pant will play while opening the batting for the side in T20Is.
"Interesting, now I am very curious to see how he (Pant) goes. He is been wanting to do this for a while. The position he wants to thrive in is 1 to 3. And in this format, you can play maximum deliveries only when you play between 1 to 3," Zaheer Khan said.
Zaheer said that opening will give Pant time to build his innings and it’ll be interesting to see how he will approach the innings. He added that if the keeper-batter utilizes the position well it’ll be a big positive for Team India and will be difficult for opposition bowlers.
“That(opening) also gives you time to build the innings. It’s interesting to see how he approaches his innings and if he comes good, then it will be difficult for the bowlers also. It’s a very positive move from the Indian team and a very surprising one for sure," he said.
India will take on England in the third T20I on Sunday (10th July). It remains to be seen if Pant will retain the opening slot or not.
(Cricbuzz inputs)