While continuing to bat in the middle order in ODIs and Tests, Rishabh Pant has stated that he would want to open in T20Is. Before the third One-Day International against New Zealand began, Pant stated that he is just 25 and that comparing his white-ball and red-ball statistics should only be done when he is around 30-32 because there is “no rationale” in doing so at this time according to the Indian Wicketkeeper.
“I’d want to open in T20s, No. 4-5 in ODIs and Tests I’m already batting at No. 5,”
Pant told Harsha Bhogle on Prime Video.
Bhogle continued by inferring a question about why Pant’s Test statistics appeared to be the greatest given that he seemed more like a white-ball player.
“Record is just a number, my white-ball record is not bad either,”
Pant replied.
When Bhogle said he was merely comparing Pant’s Test and white-ball records, Pant said,
“Comparison is not a part of my life, I’m just 24-25 so you can compare once I’m 30-32. There’s no logic in comparing before that.”
Pant made his international debut for India in T20Is in February 2017, in Tests in August 2018, and in ODIs in October. Although he appears to be a natural white-ball batter due to his tendency for playing unconventional strokes, particularly in T20s, he is now more of a certainty in India’s Test XI than in ODIs or T20Is.
Rishabh Pant – The Journey so far for the Indian Team
Dinesh Karthik started ahead of Pant in the first four games of the recent T20 World Cup before Pant was added to the XI in the middle order, primarily because India needed a left-handed batter.
However, Pant only managed to score three against Zimbabwe and six against England in the semifinal. After the first T20I in New Zealand washed out, Pant opened but once again failed to impress with poor scores of 6 and 11.
The pull shot, which the opposition has intended to use to get him out, caused Pant to fall twice during the current ODIs, in which he is vice-captain much like in the T20Is. He was caught at deep square leg for 10 off 16 after cutting on for 15 off 23 in the first ODI and failing to keep a short ball down on Wednesday in the third ODI.
Since it’s not necessary, Pant previously stated that he doesn’t premeditate much during ODIs.
“It’s mostly in T20s, not in white-ball cricket [that one has to premeditate],”
he said.
“There’s no real need to premeditate in one-day cricket but you have to in T20s.”
With the help of five hundreds, four of which have come from outside Asia and just one from India, Pant has a 31-test average of 43.32. He has also been a middle-order fixture in ODIs, particularly during the 2019 World Cup. He has struck out at a 110.76 wOBA with one century and five half-centuries while averaging over 40 wOBA and 638 runs scored from 17 innings.
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