Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has worked closely with Rishabh Pant while mentoring for Delhi Capitals. The youngster has performed prolifically in the Indian Premier League but has failed to replicate the same in international cricket. Last year, he was heavily criticised for his batting as well as wicketkeeping after he replaced MS Dhoni, who went under sabbatical after last playing in World Cup 2019.
Rishabh Pant was under a lot of scrutinies as he failed to churn out runs and for his poor wicketkeeping skills. He went under pressure for being compared with the former Indian captain Dhoni. Pant is still to score big runs to silence his critics and mark his entrance in the game.
Mohammad Kaif opens up on Pant’s batting technique and how Delhi Capitals handled his talent so that he could be a match-winner for them. As per him, the Delhi-born cricketer needs to be given clear instructions for his role in the team. Kaif said that Pant is an attacking batsman so he showed to be best suited for the role of the finisher.
“Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. You have to set his batting position, that he will bat at this position and he will get this many overs to play. He needs to be clear in his head that he will get this many overs so that he is not thinking whether he needs to take singles, or if he needs to defend,” Kaif told Aakash Chopra in his YouTube show ‘Aakashvani’.
“He is an attacking batsman, he should start hitting attacking shots from the first ball,” he added.
Team India has yet not decided Rishabh Pant’s role: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif opens up on Pant’s batting technique and how Delhi Capitals has handled his talent so that he could be a match-winner for them. As per him, the Delhi-born cricketer needs to be given clear instructions for his role in the team. Kaif said that Pant is an attacking batsman so he showed to be best suited for the finisher’s role.
“So, at Delhi Capitals, me, Dada and Ricky Ponting discussed a few times that whether to send Pant at no. 3 or no. 4. But later we decided that Pant should get at least 60 balls to play. It doesn’t matter which position he is batting at, he needs to get final 10 overs. This thing has not yet been decided by Indian team,” the 39-year-old remarked.
Rishabh Pant has so far played 13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is, scoring 814, 374 and 410 runs. He last played for Team India in the away series against New Zealand.