Following Delhi Capitals' (DC) defeat to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 6 wickets, former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith feels that Rishabh Pant's promotion to number three in the batting order is something that the Delhi-based franchise should consider ahead of their remaining IPL 2022 fixtures.
Although the left-hander was the second-highest scorer (39 off 36 balls) for his team on Thursday (April 07) against LSG, the strike rate was barely above 100. The biggest reason for that was his inability to time the ball to perfection.
He hit a six off Bishnoi’s bowling and hit another six and a boundary in an Andrew tye’s over but Jason Holder and Avesh Khan kept mixing up the pace and bowled yorkers which the 24-year-old was unable to put away.
The Delhi team could only muster 149 runs on the board, which many considered to be below par, and despite the bowlers' valiant efforts, the chasing team, owing to de Kock’s splendid 80 off 52 balls, eventually won the match in the last over.
Smith said that the defending team should have put at least 170 on the board. “Rishabh has got starts in every game, but everyone needs to be patient. The strike rate hasn’t quite happened but everyone needs to be patient. Today DC needed to rebuild after losing a couple of wickets but true, the strong finish never came. They needed to get to a total of 170-180," he was quoted as saying by cricket.com.
On being asked whether the DC skipper should continue to bat at number 4, Smith said, “Maybe the way forward is to promote Rishabh. Get him up to No.3 and take the pressure off him and give him more time. Maybe this way he’ll be able to set the tone and not think too much."
With other wicketkeeper batters like Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan doing well in the cash-rich event, Graeme Smith is hopeful about Pant's future. He believes Rishab’s a superstar in the making and that he will be a long-term member of India's squad.
“I can’t see Rishabh Pant missing out despite the likes of Samson, DK, and Kishan doing well. Ultimately it will come down to combinations. Who gets picked will depend on the conditions, who they are coming up against. Pant has to be there. You can’t leave out Pant. He is going to play all formats for India for a very long time. He’s going to be a superstar."
Graeme Smith felt that apart from Prithvi Shaw, no other batter could find their groove and despite getting a great start, DC couldn’t convert it into a big score.
“It was a one-man show (Prithvi Shaw). Sarfaraz and Pant had to recover from a couple of quick wickets. But in the end, it was only Prithvi Shaw that dominated the game from a DC perspective. After the powerplay, you thought they were on course for 200, but no one else got going. It was bizarre. Good night for Shaw individually, but Delhi would be disappointed. It was a disappointing batting performance."
(IANS INPUTS)
