India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been in fine form so far in the five-match Test series against England. With a total of 342 runs under his name in the first two Tests, he has been quite dominant against the Three Lions' bowling attack. The 27-year-old will be looking to maintain this form as the action moves to the iconic Lord's stadium for the third Test.
However, despite his superb batting displays, legendary India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who is also a former teammate of Pant, feels that the wicketkeeper-batter is yet to achieve his full potential and has also demanded more from him.
"I would like to see Rishabh Pant achieve his potential. We want him to entertain us, but he can do that and show restraint when needed. Pant is not a newbie anymore. I want to benchmark Pant to his standards," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Pant's superb performances with the bat lead to him getting compared to legendary Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist, who was also a wicketkeeper and was known for his explosive batting style. However, Ashwin believes that the two shouldn't be compared to each other as Pant's standard of batting is higher than that of the Australian great.
"He is a fabulous player. He is not Adam Gilchrist, many compare him to Gilchrist. He didn't have such a good defence. Pant has a high-quality defence. He should be compared with some of the best batters, not Gilchrist. Rishabh Pant can do Rishabh Pant things," Ashwin stated.
Pant's fantastic record in Test cricket
The 27-year-old Pant recently surpassed MS Dhoni and became the Indian wicketkeeper-batter with the most Test centuries in history. In the 45 Tests that he has played so far, Pant has scored a total of 3290 runs including eight hundreds and 16 fifties. He has also maintained a highly-impressive average of 44.45 in the format and is expected to play a crucial role for the Men in Blue in the remaining three matches of the ongoing series against the Three Lions.
Meanwhile, the third Test of India's tour to England will commence from July 10 at Lord's. With the series level at 1-1 following Shubman Gill & Co's massive 336-run victory over the hosts at Edgbaston, both teams will be looking to take the valuable lead heading into the fourth Test at Old Trafford.