Former India pacer Zaheer Khan said the selectors’ decision to open the innings with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the second T20I against England felt surprising to him.
Pant was asked to start off the innings in Birmingham on July 9 by head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma as they looked to provide the youngster’s T20I career a new lease of life.
While not making a substantial score at the top, the aggressive left-hander smashed a freeflowing cameo of 26 from 15 balls, featuring four fours and one six. Pant looked like finding his innate flow with the bat in hand until his innings was cut short by a caught-behind dismissal.
“Interesting, now I am very curious to see how he (Pant) goes. He is been wanting to do this for a while. The position he wants to thrive in is 1 to 3. And in this format, you can play maximum deliveries only when you play between 1 to 3,”
Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
Zaheer perhaps indirectly unveiled his personal conversations with Pant, wherein the 24-year-old may have himself revealed his preference to bat at the top of the order and not be pigeonholed in his usual middle-order duties.
The 2011 World Cup hero gave a green signal to India’s move and anticipated Pant to bat freely without taking too much pressure, relishing the field restrictions on the opposition during the powerplay overs.
“That(opening) also gives you time to build the innings. It’s interesting to see how he approaches his innings and if he comes good, then it will be difficult for the bowlers also. It’s a very positive move from the Indian team and very surprising one for sure,”
he added.
The move to open with Pant, an enticing option, had been advocated by fans and experts over social media, with former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer preempting the left-hander to “blossom“ at the top of the order.
So far in his career, though, Pant has been a failure in the shortest format. The youngster has collected only 767 runs from his 49 matches, averaging 23.24 with a strike-rate of 125.12.
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