Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine would know well how devastating Rishabh Pant could be if given an early reprieve. In Manchester on Sunday, it was Jos Buttler and his teammates’ turn to face the heat after the left-hander cashed in on the stumping opportunity squandered by the England captain and went on to record a breathtaking hundred, which sealed the ODI series for India.
Pant’s maiden hundred in limited-overs international cricket has given him the footing he had been looking for in the shorter formats. Besides, he got those unbeaten 125 runs batting at No.4, coming in at 21 for 2 before India slipped further to 72 for 4 in the 17th over.
The No.4 slot in India’s batting order had been in the spotlight even before the 2019 ODI World Cup. In T20Is, that may not be much of an issue. But with the 50-over World Cup scheduled next year, it certainly would benefit India if they have at least a couple of batsmen who could be deemed reliable for the No.4 slot.
Could left-handed Pant be one of them? “No.4 is the ideal position for Pant to bat. The gamechanger that he is, he can throw caution to the winds and go for the runs once he has settled down,” former India wicketkeeper and chief selector Syed Kirmani told The Telegraph on Monday.
“In the past, we have seen him being erratic and throwing it away when he had the opportunity of taking India to victory. The innings that he played yesterday (Sunday) was a quality one, where he showed immense control over his aggression and exuberance. Head coach Rahul Dravid and the seniors of the side must have spoken to him on this aspect.
“Now, every day is not Sunday, and you can’t always get going from ball one. So in that sense, I feel it’s good for Rishabh to bat at No.4 as it gives him just that little more time to get well set before he can charge,” Kirmani explained.
But former Delhi coach Amit Bhandari, who was with the team during Pant’s early days in domestic cricket, feels it’s still early to consider the wicketkeeper-batsman for the No.4 slot in ODI cricket.
“You’ve got to keep in mind that KL Rahul will be back in the XI while there’s Suryakumar Yadav too, who has done well in that position. So it’s still a little too early to say whether it’s best for Rishabh to bat at four.
“He seems to be in a better place temperamentally, so all he needs to do is just keep expressing himself and score consistently,” former pacer Bhandari, who represented India in two one-dayers and has also been a DDCA (Delhi and District Cricket Association) selector, said.
“But yeah, he’s definitely capable of batting in the top four. We even saw him opening twice in the recent T20I series against England. You never know, we may see him as an opener in the coming (T20) World Cup too because of his talent and capability,” Bhandari added.
The Manchester century aside, Pant has two more 50-plus scores batting at No.4 in his 27 ODI appearances so far: 78 versus England in Pune in March 2021 and 85 against South Africa in Paarl back in January.
The other three half-centuries came when he batted at No.5. Another significant feature of Pant’s innings on Sunday was avoiding any kind of fancy shot or unnecessary risk after the let-off he got on 18 off Moeen Ali’s bowling.
Precisely, he brought his natural game into play only after crossing 50 and when India’s required run rate was just above four runs per over. “It’s Rishabh’s talent that has blossomed further and, obviously, he has grown in terms of maturity.
He can read situations even better now,” KP Bhaskar, who was the coach when Pant captained Delhi in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy, emphasised. “Maturity usually comes after a cricketer has played at least 50-60 games. Hope Rishabh continues to get that long run in white-ball cricket,” Bhandari pointed out.
