Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been criticised a lot in recent times for his shot selection and his mindset. But in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match T20I series against West Indies, Pant played a crucial knock of 52 runs off 28 balls and helped Indian team in reaching a defendable total of 186 runs losing five wickets in 20 overs. In reply, the visitors could manage to reach a total of 178 runs losing three wickets as eventually they had to concede 8-run defeat.
Pant’s innings was comprised of 7 boundaries and a six.
Praise for Pant
And since then, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has received praise and appreciation.
In a situation like this, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has spoken up on this matter as well. Jadeja felt that Pant’s “temperament” has been admirable in the match and he was “in a perfect mindset.”
“Today was fabulous. More than skill, I admire the temperament that he showed. Guys batting at 4, 5, 6, 7, when they start with a boundary, they have couple of balls to take their time and get into a better mindset. Throughout those 28 balls, he was in a perfect mindset,” Jadeja said on Cricbuzz.
“He was joined with Venkatesh Iyer; the other problem I had with him is that sometimes, he (Pant) thinks he is the only one who has to hold the innings together. Today, they (Pant and Iyer) played as partners - 35 balls 76 (runs), it's (the partnership) just not dependent on Rishabh Pant. He's got 17-ball 36, he's got a partner who scored 18-ball 33 as well,” the 51-year-old former Indian cricketer explained.
A vital partnership
While talking about the partnership between Pant and Venkatesh Iyer, Jadeja felt that a partnership like this; “takes pressure off the batsman and puts pressure back on the bowler.”
“What that does is that it takes pressure off the batsman and puts pressure back on the bowler. It's not only you who has to hit the big shots now. Now, the bowler can't play with you anymore, he can't bowl a certain bowl which doesn't allow you to hit a boundary and bowl differently to the other guy. It was probably the most mature innings I've seen from Rishabh Pant in the last six months,” Jadeja added.
