Team India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak talked about Rishabh Pant's approach during his time at the crease. The star wicketkeeper-batter is in red-hot form in the ongoing Test series between India and England. While revealing an interesting aspect of Pant's batting approach, Kotak said that the star batter prefers not to engage in conversations while he is batting, as he believes it disrupts his focus and can lead to poor decision-making. However, Kotak clarified that the dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman enjoys chatting and interacting when he is off the batting crease.
Pant currently holds the position of the third-highest run-scorer in the ongoing Test series against England, having amassed 342 runs in four innings with an impressive average of 85.50. The aggressive left-handed batter scripted history in the series opener at Headingley, Leeds, where he struck twin centuries. However, India ended up losing the match. Pant then came up with a brilliant fifty in India's historic 336-run win over England in the Edgbaston Test.
Rishabh Pant is someone who doesn't like to talk too much during his innings: Sitanshu Kotak
India are currently gearing up for the third Test at Lord's which is set to start from July 10. Speaking at a press conference on July 8, Kotak provided insights into Pant's mindset while batting, offering the aforementioned comments.
"Rishabh actually talks a lot about what he does, when he does, why he does. But he is someone who doesn't like to talk too much during his innings because he feels that it changes his mindset and he takes the wrong decisions. That's only when he's batting. Apart from that, he talks about other batters also. He makes proper planning. It's not easy to score hundreds without any planning," Kotak said at the presser.
India's batting coach further said that Pant and star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal as two players within the current team setup who possess the remarkable ability to seize momentum from the opposition with their dynamic and aggressive batting styles. The 52-year-old elaborated on this point by stating:
"Every team will have some aggressive players, who are very good at breaking opposition's momentum. Someone like Jaiswal, who plays the way he plays, someone like Rishabh. But, that does not mean that he doesn't think. He does think and takes decisions. When it goes wrong, it looks bad. But when it goes right, people are happy," he added.