A lot has been discussed and said about India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s batting style and mindset. Pant was dismissed in the second innings of the second Test by South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada. At a time when the Indian batsmen had to be patient and spend more time at the crease without thinking about scoring quick runs, Pant had decided to go for a big hit over the extra cover region and play a reckless shot. His mistimed shot only provided an outside edge and was easily caught by the fielder. Pant was eventually dismissed for a duck and Indian time had to lose the Test match by 7 wickets.
Talk about shot selection
After the match, head coach Rahul Dravid has said in the press conference that he would talk to the wicketkeeper-batsman regarding his shot selection. And now former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has said that he does not think Dravid needs to do that.
“Rahul Dravid has come out and said that he’s going to have a word about shot selection with him. I don’t think he needs to do that - technique or tactics. Stay away from that because we know he’s got the goods to deliver. It’s more psychological. Was he in a positive or a negative frame of mind. Did the verbals get to him? Those are the things you should be looking at. When he’s on song, I guarantee you that he’s in a different state of mind. This innings he was in a negative state of mind,” said Hogg on his official YouTube channel.
'He can play under pressure'
“He’s entertaining but very frustrating to watch - either making a big score or having a brain fade and getting out early which he did in the Johannesburg Test when the team really needed him to lift. Now, we know that he has a reasonable technique… he can play under pressure. He did it in Australia at the Gabba. But in South Africa, he was put under the pump. He walked out of the crease, which tells you that he is a little bit twitchy. He was receiving a few verbals, you could see there was a bit of eagerness. It wasn’t the Rishabh Pant that we know,” Hogg added.
Pant has not been in a good form in the ongoing Test series in the Rainbow Nation. He managed to score 42 runs in the first Test and in the second Test he only scored 17 runs. Even in the third Test he made 27 runs.
