Rishabh Pant has to work really hard on his wicketkeeping: Ravi Shastri

One of the biggest talking points in the last one week has been Rishabh Pant. Not because he was struck on the head and was concussed but because he was left out of the side even after regaining full fitness. It was KL Rahul who replaced him behind the stumps and did well too.

The Karnataka lad displayed his versatility as he stroked a fine 80 in the second ODI in Rajkot to set up India’s series-leveling win. Rahul was excellent with the gloves and there was hardly anything that went past him. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli went on to say that Rahul keeping wickets adds a different dimension and allows them to play an extra batsman.

Not once but Virat Kohli said that twice and has even taken the step as well. KL Rahul donned the gloves ahead of Pant in the first T20I against New Zealand in Auckland. His batting has come leaps and bounds as well and Rahul has really fit in the white-ball setup well now.

But the focus remains on Pant. He’s dropped out of favor in Test cricket and lost his place to Wriddhiman Saha and now, he’s lost the gloves to Rahul in the shorter formats. Moreover, it hasn’t been the best of times for Pant over the last six to eight months. After being flown in as an injury replacement in the World Cup, Pant was deemed to be India’s next keeper. He played almost every game, especially in white-ball cricket. But his form blew hot and cold. It was only against West Indies at home that he started regaining some old form and seemed to be hitting the ball well. But the concussion happened and subsequently lost his place.

Ravi Shastri wants Rishabh Pant to work hard on his wicket-keeping

There have been multiple instances of Pant fumbling behind the stumps and he’s still improving. In fact, there have been a couple of vital chances that have gone begging. Hence, head coach Ravi Shastri came out and broke the silence over the confusion over Pant and his place and role in the side. While he did talk about shot-selection and game awareness, Shastri was critical about Pant’s glovework.

“He has to work really hard on his wicketkeeping. He is not a natural ‘keeper but he’s got all that talent which will go to waste if he doesn’t work on his keeping. I think he has realised that and if you see him now, he is working extremely hard on his ‘keeping as well,” Shastri told The Hindu in an interview.