The 22-year-old Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who has already played 57 international matches, recently revealed his favourite batting partner.
The left-handed batsman Rishabh Pant loves to bat aggressively. He can bat in various position as the team utilises him according to the situation. While Pant has hit two centuries and two half-centuries (both were 92 runs) in his Test career, he has scored two half-centuries in T20I and the only half-century in ODI. Though the youngster has very good potential, he hasn’t shown his consistency in batting yet.
Recently, during a Twitter interaction with his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC), Pant revealed his favourite batting partner. Though he hasn’t got many chances to batting with the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni, the former Indian World Cup-winning captain is his favourite batting partner as his presence makes easier the batting process.
Pant said, “My favourite batting partner is Dhoni but it’s very rare that I get the chance to bat with him. If he’s out there, everything remains sorted. He lays out the plan and you just have to follow his lead. The way his mind works is amazing, especially during chases.”
As both are the wicketkeeper-batsmen, they don’t appear together regularly for the Indian team. Till the date, they have partnered in four limited-overs innings where their total partnership runs are 103 (average 34.33), including two 40+ partnerships.
I enjoy batting even with Virat bhai and Rohit bhai: Rishabh Pant
Pant also enjoys batting with the top two present Indian batsmen – captain Virat Kohli and limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma. The youngster further added that he also liked to bat with the Indian cricketers Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan, who are also his teammates in his IPL side Delhi Capitals.
Pant added, “I enjoy batting even with Virat bhai and Rohit bhai… actually, whenever you’re batting with any of these seniors, it’s a different experience altogether. You have fun with them. You realise how their mind works. It’s a different chemistry… even with Iyer and Shiki bhai in the IPL.”
In international cricket career, Pant has the most partnership runs with Virat Kohli (528 runs in 19 innings; average 29.33). However, his best partnership average is with Shreyas Iyer (286 runs in six innings; average 47.66).
After making his international debut in February 2017, Rishabh Pant has played 13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is where the left-handed batsman has scored 814 runs (average 38.76), 374 runs (average 26.71) and 410 runs (average 20.50) respectively.