Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Saba Karim showered praise on Rishabh Pant after India suffered a 25-run loss against New Zealand in the third Test match at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday. Chasing 147 for the win, Pant came out to bat when India was struggling at 18-3 with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli back in the pavilion.
India was soon reduced to 29-5 as Indian batters looked like a pigeon among the cats on a pitch which had all the assistance for the spinners. Pant, on the other hand, seemed as if he was batting on a different wicket as he used his feet to great effect.
Pant added a crucial alliance of 42 runs with Ravindra Jadeja as he did the bulk of the scoring. The left-hander scored a fine knock of 64 runs before he was given out by third umpire Paul Reiffel in a controversial way.
“Rishabh Pant’s batting has been incredible in both innings. No matter how much we praise him, we are falling short of words. On a surface like this, he was stepping out and hitting in front of the wickets, and playing square as well. We rarely see this in Indian conditions or on Indian wickets,” Saba Karim said on Colors Cineplex.
“It seemed like he erased the length on which Glenn Phillips and Ajaz Patel were trying to bowl. He was the only batter in the entire Test match who was able to do that. Daryl Mitchell and Will Young scored runs but they were having difficulties. However, on a rank turner, it seemed like he (Pant) came out to bat on a normal wicket. That’s why he was finding it easy to play different kinds of shots,” the former India wicketkeeper-batter added.
The former Indian selector said Pant forced the New Zealand’s bowlers to bowl loose deliveries and he was able to capitalise on the same.
“We saw that in the first innings and this innings as well. If you finish the most major threat, it becomes easy. Parthiv Patel said that Rishabh Pant forces the bowlers to bowl loose balls. It’s easy to say that while sitting here but you can do that on the wicket only if you have immense confidence,” he replied.
Karim lauded Pant’s defensive technique and said the batter’s confidence to dominate the bowlers from the get-go holds him in good stead.
”The confidence with which he goes into the ground and plays the first ball, he gives the sign to the bowlers there itself that no matter how much the wicket might be favorable to them, he has come to dominate. On top of that, he has a solid defensive technique. So he is an extremely special player,” Saba observed.
Despite Pant’s heroics, India suffered a 25-run loss as none of the other batters could even go past the 15-run mark.
