Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
 

Rishabh Pant doesn't know the right method of scoring runs at No. 4, should bat at No. 5 or 6: VVS Laxman

Former India cricketer and batting legend VVS Laxman believes young Rishabh Pant isn't yet ready to bat at number four and advised the Indian Cricket Team management to send the 21-year-old to bat at No. 5 or 6 instead.

Rishabh Pant doesnt know the right method of scoring runs at No. 4, should bat at No. 5 or 6: VVS Laxman

New Delhi, Sep 23: Former India cricketer and batting legend VVS Laxman believes young Rishabh Pant isn't yet ready to bat at number four and advised the Indian Cricket Team management to send the 21-year-old to bat at No. 5 or 6 instead.

In 20 T20Is, the 21-year-old has aggregated 325 runs and averaged just 20.3. While his average in the IPL is a healthy 36.16 in 54 games. In IPL 2019 the explosive left-handed batsman scored at an average of 37.53 while in IPL 2018 the Delhi Capitals' batsman averaged whopping 52.61.

Pant has mostly batted at number four for his IPL franchise and has been pretty successful for them as he has scored a lot of runs. However, the youngster - who made his debut way back in 2017 - hasn't been able to translate his performance at the international level.

Pant is largely being criticised for his shot selection and throwing his wicket every now and then. In his last 10 T20I innings, Pant has scores of 4, 40*, 28, 3, 1, 0, 4, 65*, 4, and 19. These figures do no justice with his batting potential and the man he's replacing as India's wicketkeeper-batsman.

Talking about Pant's shot selection, Laxman said on Star Sports, "The nature of Rishabh Pant's batting is that he plays aggressive shots. The success came for him in Delhi Capitals during IPL, playing at No. 4 with an average strike rate of 45 but unfortunately at the international level he is not able to succeed at the number four position."

"Every player goes through this phase, his natural game is free-flowing but suddenly he is not gaining the same results.

"He is trying to evolve and trying to add different dimensions to his game by rotating the strike that we saw in the previous match but unfortunately, his shot selection at the start of the innings has not been great," the former India middle-order batsman added.

Laxman opined the team management to send Pant to bat at number 5 or 6 for that will give the youngster the license to express himself.

"Pant should bat at number 5 and 6, where you have the license to go out and express yourself and at the moment he doesn't know the right method of scoring runs at number 4.

Laxman said either Shreyas Iyer or Hardik Pandya can bat at No. 4 as they have more experience. "There are other people to bat at number 4 like Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer who are experienced and could play at that spot."

The former Hyderabad cricketer also felt that Pant is under a lot of pressure currently as he is replacing veteran MS Dhoni.

"He also has a lot of pressure as he is taking the place of MS Dhoni who has done a lot for Indian cricket, to get his confidence back the team management needs to let him go bat at number 5 or 6 and express himself," said Laxman.

Story first published: Monday, September 23, 2019, 13:43 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 23, 2019