Former India cricketer Kirti Azad believes that Rishabh Pant can become a “very good batsman than keeper” as far as his wicket-keeping skills in concerned.
Pant has been the talk of the town ever since he broke onto the international scene, especially because he was seen as a replacement for MS Dhoni as India wicketkeeper-batsman apart from his ability to smash big boundaries lower down the order and deep hunger to improve and entertain.
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Though the left-hander’s batting abilities have earned him a lot of popularity among fans, he still needs to do a lot of work to improve as a wicketkeeper to be in the Indian team since he has been struggling to keep his place in the national folds with India trying out KL Rahul at the spot.
Well, Azad feels sorry to see that a talent like Pant is getting wasted in the team as he is talented batsman, saying the Delhi lad just needs to keep his head cool to be best in his business.
Azad told Sportskeeda in an interview: “He is very impulsive. I think he can turn out to be a very good batsman than a keeper. And, if he keeps his head cool, the question is that he wants to hit every ball, you are not playing T20 cricket when you are playing a 50-overs game or a Test match.”
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He further added, “You have to learn to stay at the wicket. If you stay at the wicket, the runs are going to come to you. Some good ball takes your wicket, I can understand, but if you hit a big shot and get out, which has happened most of the times as far as Rishabh Pant is concerned, I feel sorry because he is a great talent getting wasted.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Kaif feels Pant should be given a fixed position to bat so that he can play with more freedom, adding: “Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. You have to set his batting position, that he will bat at this position and he will get this many overs to play.”
Kaif signed off by saying, “He needs to be clear in his head that he will get this many overs so that he is not thinking whether he needs to take singles, or if he needs to defend. He is an attacking batsman, he should start hitting attacking shots from the first ball.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
