Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has praised India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant for his brilliant fifty in the T20 World Cup 2024 warmup game against Bangladesh on June 1 in New York.

The wicketkeeper-batter scored a rapid 53 off 32 balls, helping India set a competitive target of 183. India subsequently restricted Bangladesh to 122/9, securing a comprehensive 60-run victory in New York.

Manjrekar praised Pant for his ability to quickly assess the conditions and adapt his game accordingly.

"The pitch was slightly difficult when he came to bat. We saw Sanju Samson getting out after scoring only one run off six balls. After that, he (Pant) came and his specialty is that he is extremely street-smart and assesses very quickly what needs to be done," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

Pant hit 4 sixes and 3 fours in his knock and Manjrekar was impressed with his strike rate of almost 200 on a pitch that was dicey to bat on.

"He is a batter who scored runs at a strike rate of almost 200 on a difficult pitch. This is Rishabh Pant's speciality. His record in T20Is is very ordinary, an average close to 20 and a strike rate of 120 or lower, but we saw today what this guy can do," Manjrekar added.

Pant's T20I record includes 987 runs at an average of 22.43 and a strike rate of 126.37 in 66 matches.

Former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar also commended Pant for his approach, noting his initial caution before launching into big shots.

"Everyone will talk about the four fours and four sixes he hit, but he scored only one run off his first six or seven deliveries. So the best thing was that he gave himself time, especially against the spinners. We have the notion that he plays a lot of shots against spinners.

Actually, his best shots are against the pacers and he gets out many times against spinners. Today he batted well against both pacers and spinners. So I feel stability has come into his mind considering the way he batted," Bangar noted.