Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s successor, Rishabh Pant was expected to fill in his boots, but, so far, the 21-year-old cricketer has failed to live up to the expectations.
Adam Gilchrist asks Rishabh Pant to stop being DRS expert MS Dhoni
The Delhi Capitals opening batsman has flopped with the bat as well as the gloves.
Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s successor, Rishabh Pant was expected to fill in his boots, but, so far, the 21-year-old cricketer has failed to live up to the expectations.
Since the 2019 World Cup, the youngster has been given many chances to justify his price tag, but statistics and records have shown that he has failed on most of the occasions.
The Delhi Capitals opening batsman has flopped with the bat as well as the gloves. Since the 2019 World Cup, Pant was sent up the order at number four to up the ante as well as play as per the condition. But, the player has failed to live up to the expectations.
The young cricketer has got many starts, but, somehow Pant gets out by playing a shot out of impetuosity. The youngster has been a subject of criticism since he was promoted to the number four position, which itself is a highly debatable topic.
Recently, during the three-match T20I away series against the West Indies, Rishabh Pant played a sensible yet an aggressive knock of 65 off 42 balls to steer his side home in the first match. Apart from that knock of 65, the wicket-keeper batsman scored two knocks of 4 and 0.
Dhoni’s touted successor was also sometime sloppy on the field too. Earlier, during the 2019 World Cup, India’s fielding coach R Sridhar had stated that pant needed to improve his fielding and throwing method.
Furthermore, he was also dropped from the recently concluded home Test series against South Africa, after India thrashed West Indies 2-0 in the two-match Test series.
In place of Pant, Wriddhiman Saha was taken. The Bengal cricketer proved his worth by performing with the gloves during the series against South Africa.
The Indian selectors have included the Delhi player in every series to help him gain some experience before the upcoming 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.
Moreover, recently, India’s national selector MSK Prasad in a press conference had clearly stated that the selectors have moved on from MS Dhoni after the 50-over mega-showpiece.
Recently, former Adam Gilchrist has stated that the Indian fans shouldn’t expect too much from the young wicket-keeper batsman as he still hasn’t reached the level of veteran wicket-keeper Dhoni.
Gilchrist stated that Dhoni’s benchmarks can’t be met by anyone and that too in the early stages of their career. The Aussie legend also went on to say that Pant should learn from Dhoni.
In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Gilchrist said, “I’m not big on comparisons like I have said before. I think Indians fans shouldn’t be trying to compare him to Dhoni. Dhoni has set such a high benchmark. One day someone might match it but it is probably unlikely. Rishabh looks like a very talented young player.”
Lastly, Gilly added, “Just don’t put too much pressure on him too early and expect that he’s going to produce Dhoni-like performances every day. My advice to Rishabh Pant will be: learn everything you can from Dhoni. Don’t try to be Dhoni. Just try to be the best Rishabh Pant you can.”