The former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman praised the wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for scoring his maiden ODI half-century in the series opener against West Indies. Pant, who has been under scrutinising eyes of the team management for quite a long time, performed exceptionally at the tough pitch of Chennai. He scored 71 runs off of 69 balls with the help of seven fours and a six.
The 22-year-old keeper is being under the radar of the team management of India national cricket team and has been given many chances to prove his worth. However, the youngster has recently not been able to succeed in his game till Chennai ODI. He gave away an exceptional performance when India was at the crucial situation in the ODI series opener against West Indies.
Coming to bat first, India lost the two pillars of the team – Virat Kohli (4) and Rohit Sharma (36) within a total of 80 runs. KL Rahul (6) gave away his wicket to Shimron Hetmyer on Sheldon Cottrell’s ball while the bowler quickly hit the bails of Virat Kohli.
Laxman praised Rishabh Pant for his exceptional maiden fifty
However, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer went on to take the team’s score near to 200 runs when Pant was taken down by Pollard in the 40th over. The two had taken the hosts near the double ton mark at the time when it seemed difficult for India to score good runs.
The young cricketer, who was under the selectors’ scanner for long, has performed exceptionally against the Caribbean pacers. Referring to such stunning performance, the former Indian veteran VVS Laxman heaped praise on the youngster and lauded him for managing to put up such a show at Chennai’s slow pitch.
“Good to see him get back that confidence because he is a confident player. We know what he has gone through over the last 4-5 months. The way he was using the crease against the fast bowlers, just to make sure that he got used to the pace of the wicket. I thought it was a very matured knock,” Laxman said during his post-match show at Star Sports.
Coming into bat after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, Pant took his time in the beginning. Steadying himself on the crease, he played the shots only when he was confident. However, the cricketer gave a catch to Shimron Hetmyer on Kieron Pollard’s ball and couldn’t reach his maiden century.
“He is a positive character. He will be happy he at least go to the half-century, especially in difficult conditions and tough situations after all the top 3 batsmen who India rely on were back in the dressing room. Probably, down the line, he will be disappointed he didn’t convert the fifty into a century. He had a lot of time left,” Laxman added.
Nevertheless, India lost the first ODI against the visitors by eight wickets. It took the Caribbean team to chase down the given target of 288 runs in 48 overs. Windies opener Shai Hope hit an unbeaten knock of 102 runs off 151 balls while Shimron Hetmyer scored firing 139 runs with 11 fours and seven sixes. Hetmyer was taken down by Mohammed Shami, but by then the game was out of India’s hands.