India head coach Rahul Dravid said the team management will definitely have conversations with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on how he can improve his shot selection while retaining his naturally aggressive style of play at the crease.
Dravid said he will not be calling Pant to avoid playing the way he does at his best but believes it is important that the left-hander is maximising his ability by making better and wiser choices at the crease.
“We know Rishabh plays positively and he plays in a particular manner and that has got him a little bit of success.
But yeah, of course there are times when we’re going to have some level of conversations with him around, just a little bit of maybe just selection of the time to play that [shot].”
Dravid said in his post-match press conference, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“No one’s ever going to tell Rishabh not to be a positive player, not to be an aggressive player, but sometimes it’s just a question of picking and choosing the time to do that,”
he added.
Pant’s shot-making is a topic of hot debate once again as he got out playing a horrible stroke in the decisive third innings of the New Year’s Test in Johannesburg. Playing South African speedster Kagiso Rabada, Pant, who had faced only two previous deliveries, danced down the track and looked to slog the ball through mid-wicket.
With the delivery from Rabada carrying excess pace and steep bounce, Pant could only edge the ball through to the wicketkeeper. It wasn’t just about the risk element involved in the shot but also the lack of game awareness on Pant’s part.
At the point he walked in, India had just lost their two set batters in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and Rabada was delivering the seventh straight over of the spell.
When the visitors, leading by only 140 runs at the time, desperately needed a partnership, their wicketkeeper-batter played an irresponsible stroke to get out.
Pant hasn’t been at his best with the bat since the start of the tour of England in June. He has made only 250 runs from his 13 innings with a measly average of 19.23.
For India to comeback from the defeat in Jo’burg and clinch the decider in Cape Town, the visitors require their star keeper to deliver the goods with the bat.
