Rishabh Pant faced immense criticism over his shot-selection during the second innings of the Johannesburg Test against South Africa. Rishabh Pant had arrived at the crease when India was in a dire need of a partnership.
However, South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen’s attempts to get under Rishabh Pant’s skin worked in favour of the South Africans, as the Indian batter went for an adventurous lofted shot over covers and nicked the ball for a simple catch behind the wickets.
Rishabh Pant Can Play Under Pressure As He’s Entertaining But Frustrating To Watch: Brad Hogg
The former left-arm spinner, citing his performances from the Test series in Australia in 2020/21, said that Rishabh Pant can perform under pressure, and conversations with the Indian youngster must be more psychological than technical. Brad Hogg feels that Rishabh Pant was in a different state of mind when he made a wrong and controversial shot selection during the second innings of the Johannesburg Test. He was out on duck in that innings and was in a limelight after that because of his shot selection.
“He’s entertaining but very frustrating to watch – either making a big score or having a brain fade and getting out early which he did in the Johannesburg Test when the team really needed him to lift. Now, we know that he has a reasonable technique… he can play under pressure. He did it in Australia at the Gabba. But in South Africa, he was put under the pump. He walked out of the crease, which tells you that he is a little bit twitchy. He was receiving a few verbals, you could see there was a bit of eagerness. It wasn’t the Rishabh Pant that we know,” Hogg said on his official YouTube channel.
Rishabh Pant is in limelight because of his shot selection in Johannesburg Test in the second innings. Ex-Australian spinner Brad Hogg feels that Rahul Dravid shouldn’t talk with him regarding the shot selection he made during the second Test against South Africa.
Rahul Dravid Would Have A Word About Rishabh Pant’s Shot Selection But Brad Hogg Reckons He Shouldn’t Be Spoken To
Following the end of the game which saw India concede a seven-wicket defeat, the team’s head coach Rahul Dravid said he would be having “conversations” with Rishabh Pant over his shot-selection. However, former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has insisted that Rishabh Pant’s problem goes deeper than “technique or tactics.”
“Rahul Dravid has come out and said that he’s going to have a word about the shot selection with him. I don’t think he needs to do that – technique or tactics. Stay away from that because we know he’s got the goods to deliver. It’s more psychological. Was he in a positive or a negative frame of mind? Did the verbals get to him? Those are the things you should be looking at. When he’s on the song, I guarantee you that he’s in a different state of mind. In this innings he was in a negative state of mind,” explained Hogg.
In the third and final Test of the series, Rishabh Pant started his innings with an aggressive approach again and conceded a soft dismissal when he was on 27. Despite some controversies regarding his selection for the last Test, he has been named on the Indian team sheet for the Cape Town Test which is a series decider. He sliced the ball to gully to be out for 27.
Rishabh Pant has played a significant role in some of Team India’s most memorable wins in the last year or so. The keeper-batsman had a lean patch in Test cricket since his last hundred at Ahmedabad. In 4-match series in England, he scored just 146 runs in 7 innings while in this ongoing series he scored just 86 runs in 5 innings averaging 17.2.
Rishabh Pant had scored 274 runs at an average of 68.50 in five innings for India against Australia in 2020/21 Down Under. The keeper continued his form against England at home where he hit 270 runs at an average of 54.00 as he was the second-highest run-getter for India in the series.