West Indies vs India August 2019: Rishabh Pant a rare but frustrating talent

Seen as a successor to India’s legendary wicket-keeper batsman, MS Dhoni, as such the selectors have invested heavily in the youngster in terms of opportunities to showcase his abundant natural talent.

Following India’s recent World Cup semi-final exit, the team’s management elected to start developing young players with a firm eye on the future. A policy that saw Pant included in squads slated to play all formats on the West Indies tour in August. 

He could not have been offered a better platform to inspire the selectors; his basic mission to deliver consistent performances and seal his place in the Indian national side.

Skipper Virat Kohli was full of praise and admiration in the pre-match press conference, which on reflection possibly imposed rather too much pressure to succeed on a young player. That said, the old sporting adage, “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough” coined by the great Sir Matt Busby, who managed Manchester United Football Club to such great success between 1945 and 1971, springs to mind

“It’s a great opportunity for someone like Rishabh Pant to play a lot of international cricket and show his credentials, really unleash his potential at this stage. We know how much ability he has and we all want him to be a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team,” Kohli commented.

Certainly to-date, Pant has failed to make use of his opportunity, perhaps trying that little bit too hard to justify the hype and reward his patrons. His dismissals in the T20I series against West Indies have been frankly farcical, which may indicate an over anxious desire to succeed. Unfortunately they have stirred up the ongoing debate over the true depth of his ability and temperament.

A prime example, his rash and impatient attempt to slog-sweep off-spinner Sunil Narine which resulted in an ignominious golden duck in the opening match of the series. In the second game he threw away another chance to shine, trying an impudent uppercut off his fifth delivery which flew straight to short third man, out for a total of 4.  Then to silence his doubters as well as highlight his inconsistency, a sparkling unbeaten 65 in the 3rd T20 to outscore his captain.

Respected cricket pundits have regularly Pant with criticism in the past, as unreliable for his tendency to give his wicket away on a plate for no good reason. Regardless, Virat Kohli contends that Team India remain fully behind their young wicketkeeper-batsman coming in at number 4 in the 50-over format.  Yet Pant batting at four in the 2nd Windies ODI (1st ODI on 9th August was abandoned due to rain after 13 overs), only managed a nondescript 20 before once again throwing his wicket away with an appalling, totally unnecessary shot.

Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion however that India should stick with Pant, but that would be more comfortable and therefore effective if he were put in to bat further down the upper middle order.

“In my view, Rishabh Pant is much better like an MS Dhoni at 5 for 6 as a finisher because that’s where his natural game and natural flair will come into play. If India get to a great start with Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma batting for 40-45 overs, then Pant at No. 4. But if it’s a question of batting for 30-35 overs, then I think it should be Shreyas Iyer at No. 4 and Pant at No. 5,” he said speaking to presenters at Sony Ten 1.

Hopefully, Pant will put in a performance in the third and final ODI as he did in the T20I series, with his consistency still in question, while others are beginning to agree with Gavaskar’s stance that he is best pushed back to 5 or 6 with the less flamboyant Iyer moving up to the number 4 slot. 

Despite all the bad press, Rishabh Pant has shown considerable flair when playing for India’s Test side, producing some good innings. His Test cricket average, at 47.91 is significantly higher than either his T20I (21.57) or ODI (25.44) form, top-scoring with  159. Pant’s Indian Premier League performance, averaging 31.16, is no doubt why he has been included in the T20I squad. 

However, critics might perhaps take a less austere view given how the demands of format crossover cricket take their toll on most players. Thus far at 21 years old, Pant has only played in 9 Test matches, 11 ODIs and 18 T20Is. While many are utterly frustrated by his hot and cold start to an international career, most of the great players needed more matches under their belt to properly achieve momentum. 

Even one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar only scored two half-centuries in his first six Tests, he was admittedly sixteen going on seventeen. But it should be remembered that Pant, just 21, scored his 159 against Australia in their backyard at the Sydney Cricket Ground, against a bowling attack that included Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. With an achievement such as that behind him, he will come good.