Zaheer also compared Pant with Virender Sehwag.
Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan heaped praise on Rishabh Pant and urged others to not judge him on the basis of his stats after the young wicketkeeper-batter slammed a stunning knock of 85 runs in the second ODI against South Africa on Friday (January 21) in Paarl.
Pant has so far batted at No.4 in the first two ODIs in South Africa. He could manage only 16 runs in the first ODI, but he was brilliant in the second ODI in Paarl, hitting 85 runs as well as stitching a century stand with KL Rahul against South Africa. However, India couldn’t save the match and series either.
He went on to compare Pant with Virender Sehwag, saying they both have a similar approach to taking things. Since Team India expects flexibility from Pant, Zaheer insisted that the different batting positions have not affected the left-hander’s performance in limited-overs cricket.
Zaheer told Cricbuzz: “When you talk about a player who has got the X-Factor, Rishabh Pant comes to mind. He's got versatility that puts him in a different category. If one manages to do things which other players are not able to pull off, expectations tend to rise as well as pressure.”
He continued, “But Pant is a character and he's least bothered about the commentary or outside noise. Virender Sehwag also used to be like that in our times. He used to think about his own game instead of focussing on other things... and Pant also has got a similar approach. You can't judge him on the basis of his stats due to the amount of risk that he takes. He's an impact player.”
Khan signed off by saying, “I don't think his batting position has affected his performance in limited-overs. India instead expects flexibility from him. They have a player who can come in to bat according to the situation. You can't correlate his form and batting position... these are two completely different things. Pant should be utilized as an impact player rather than alloting a fixed batting spot to him.”