Rishabh Pant's timing with the bat similar to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma: Pravin Amre

In the midst of a string of poor performances, India’s young wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant has the sword looming on his head. The 22-year-old has failed to cement his spot in the national side despite getting ample opportunities. Pant, who was labelled as MS Dhoni’s replacement has been censured by many fans for his poor selection of shots and rash display of batting.

Recently, Pant was also criticised for his poor glovework skills in the third T20I against Bangladesh. Pant missed the stumping opportunity of Liton Das. The third umpire ruled it out stating that Pant’s hands were slightly in front of the stumps when he dislodged the bails. Furthermore, many fans also insisted on replacing Pant with Wriddhiman Saha or Sanju Samson in the limited-overs format of the game.

Recently, Rohit Sharma asked fans and experts to keep their eyes off Pant for a while as the 22-year-old is looking to establish his position in India’s limited-overs sides. Amid the talks of Pant’s exclusion from the national side, former Indian cricketer Pravin Amre has compared Pant’s bat timing with the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. However, he also insisted that Pant needs to focus on getting his timing right.

“He is like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, a great timer of the ball. He has to focus on getting it right. He seems to be confused about how he should be going about it, whether to play the waiting game or his natural attacking game,” Amre was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Pravin Amre was also the assistant coach of Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League last season when Rishabh Pant was failing to deliver consistent performances for the team after his arrival. Amre has revealed how Delhi Capitals‘ coach Ricky Ponting played a crucial role in elevating Pant’s game.

Ricky Ponting handled Rishabh Pant

“He was coming after poor scores. It was mainly the way chief coach Ricky Ponting handled him and gave him the space to be himself,” said Amre. “It is also about not trying too hard; we tried to ensure he didn’t fall into the trap by coming under pressure. We tried to keep it simple, break the game into small parts.”

India will now lock horns with Bangladesh in the two-match Test series at home where Saha will be assigned the responsibility of keeping wickets. Pant is anticipated to regain his form and deliver significant performances in the home series against West Indies next month.

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