Ahead of the three-match Test series against South Africa starting on October 2, India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant found backing from Former India captain Sourav Ganguly. Pant has been under the scanner for his shot selection in his last few limited overs appearances but Ganguly is of the opinion that the young left-hander will get better with time.
“There has been talk about Pant’s shot selection and rightly so but all must understand, he will learn and only get better,” Ganguly wrote in his column for The Times of India.
Pant had scores of 19 and 4 in the two T20Is against South Africa and on both on occasions, he got out playing attacking shots. But Ganguly reserved high praise for the Delhi stumper and termed him a ‘long-term bet’ and a ‘solution for India in all the formats’.
“He has a young batting unit under him and all of them will need a lot of support from the captain, at the top of the list will be Rishabh Pant. His entry into international cricket has been brilliant and for me, he is India’s solution for all the formats. He is a match-winner and a longterm bet for India,” the former India captain said.
Pant has been pitted as the first-choice keeper for India in all three formats ever since MS Dhoni made himself unavailable after 2019 World Cup. But the 21-year-old has been keeping both his supporters and critics on their toes with his batting.
Ganguly, for his part did not want to read too much into India’s performance in the T20I series against South Africa which ended at 1-1.
“India last played against Australia at home in T20 games and now against South Africa and the results have not been a happy one for them but that can happen in sport. One has to give credit to South Africa for their fightback to level the series in the third T20,” Ganguly said.
“The T20 World Cup is in Australia next year and it is quite natural that a lot of so called interested parties in cricket will jump up and down, passing their opinions and judgements about all that can happen. The key person amidst all this will be Virat Kohli and it will be important for him to stay calm for a long period of time,” Ganguly added.
India’s next assignment however, is a three-match Test series against South Africa which starts on October 2 in Visakhapatnam. Though Pant is expected to start as India’s designated keeper but the possibility of Wriddhiman Saha making a comeback cannot be completely ruled out.
