3 recent signs of worry in Rishabh Pant's batting
It seemed like a fresh start for Rishabh Pant when he was promoted to the top of the order in Team India's T20I series against New Zealand. Although he could only score six and 11 in the two innings that he opened, many believe the longer formats are his stronger suits.
However, Rishabh Pant seemed to struggle even in the ODIs, scoring just 15 runs off 23 balls in Auckland and was cleaned up by Lockie Ferguson. The way he was dismissed has raised a lot of questions about whether he has the right technique and temperament to play white-ball cricket.
If this inconsistency creeps into his Test career, which has been nothing short of brilliant so far, it would not only affect Pant but would also disrupt Team India's balance as they like to play with five bowling options.
Still just 25, Rishabh Pant has at least a decade of international cricket left in him and if he works on his problem areas, he could well be a match-winner across all formats for India. On that note, let's take a look at three issues in his batting at the moment:
#3 Late to react to deliveries
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One of the main characteristics of successful white-ball batters is how they react to deliveries and keep the scoreboard ticking. It's not always possible to score a boundary off every delivery and so the art of strike rotation as well as adjusting to the line and length of the ball is crucial.
The way Rishabh Pant chopped on the delivery from Ferguson onto his stumps in the first ODI spoke volumes about how he is getting late and trying to play premeditated shots. It works in Test cricket, where the bowlers stick to a consistent line and length.
However, if Pant wants to become more consistent in white-ball cricket, he will certainly need to work on playing each ball to its merit and also on building his innings.
#2 Loses shape while trying to slog
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As mentioned earlier, when Rishabh Pant finds it difficult to rotate the strike, he tries to break the shackles through a release shot. This is exactly what happened in the second T20I at the Bay Oval. It was a hard-length delivery outside the off-stump from Ferguson, but Pant just tried to slog across the line and was caught at third man.
He was neither close to the pitch of the ball, nor did he maintain a stable base to let his power take care of the shot. In Test cricket, the attacking field makes it a bit easier for Pant to go over the top. But when he bats in the middle-order in white-ball cricket, it is important that he learns to choose the right time to go big.
Pant might also want to focus more on his timing, rather than trying too hard and losing shape while playing a big shot.
#1 Poor shot selection in situations
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Probably the major issue that hurts Rishabh Pant the most is his shot selection in crunch situations. Although he has played some incredible knocks in Tests, he hasn't quite been able to achieve similar success in white-ball cricket so far.
He has received numerous chances in T20Is and his poor shot selection has more often than not got him into trouble. Shreyas Iyer is in stunning form and KL Rahul has kept wickets in the past. With Sanju Samson also in the mix, Rishabh Pant will really need to keep on scoring consistently in ODIs to stay ahead in the pecking order.