While international cricket resumed with the England-West Indies Test series on July 8, Indian cricket continues to be on hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But off the field, while in isolation, Indian cricketers are using social media to continue connecting with fans.
On Tuesday (July 14), wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant featured in Delhi Capitals’ Instagram Live session, where he named the legendary MS Dhoni as his favourite batting partner.
See Also: “Ricky Ponting gives me a free hand at Delhi Capitals”, says Rishabh Pant
Pant, however, rued that he only gets limited opportunities to bat alongside Dhoni.
"My favourite batting partner is Dhoni but it's very rare that I get the chance to bat with him. If he's out there, everything is sorted. He lays out the plan and you just have to follow it. The way his mind works, especially during run-chases, is amazing," Pant said during the chat with his IPL franchise.
The southpaw, who has played 13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is so far, further said he loves to pick the minds of veteran players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma when batting with them in tough situations.
"I enjoy batting with Virat bhai and Rohit bhai. Whenever you are batting with any of these seniors, it's a different experience altogether. You have fun with them. You realise how their mind works. It's a different chemistry... even with (Shreyas) Iyer and Shiki bhai (Shikhar Dhawan) in the IPL."
With Dhoni making himself unavailable for selection after the World Cup 2019, Rishabh was a regular feature in India’s white-ball team but he failed to secure his spot. His averages in ODIs (26.71) and T20Is (20.50) suggest that he is not doing justice to his talent.
But former India batsman and Delhi Capitals assistant coach Mohammad Kaif recently said that Team India hasn’t been able to find the right role for Pant in the shorter formats.
"Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. If you set a number (in the batting order) for him, if you tell him you have these many overs and you have to do this, you help him play with a clear mind," Kaif told Aakash Chopra in his YouTube show Aakashvani.
"In whatever discussions I had with Ganguly and Ponting, we decided that Pant has to face the last 10 overs, he needs to get 60 balls regardless of his batting position. The wickets don't decide his position but it's based on the number of overs left.
"India is not being able to do this properly. He is sometimes sent in at 15th over in a 50-0ver match."
