"130s are the best to face in Australia" - Rishabh Pant's advice to England for beating Australia in their own backyard
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been a part of both the squads that travelled to Australia (2018/19 & 2020/21) and won the Border Gavaskar Trophy on both occasions.
Pant's 89* remains immortal in Indian cricketing history as India breached 'Fortress' Gabba in 2021. The southpaw certainly knows a thing or two about performing in Australia and was asked by Michael Vaughan about whether he would like to give England any advice.
Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, here's what Rishabh Pant had to say:
"As a batter I would say look to cut the ball rather than punch it. Australia is the best place to cut and pull. Also you need to have extra pace (in bowling department). 130s are the best to face in Australia even if the ball is moving around. I think it makes a lot of difference (having pace)."
England will go to Australia in the 2025/26 Summer in their bid to regain the Ashes. It will be interesting to see if they take Pant's advice and add extra pace to their ranks.
Rishabh Pant on India's youngsters stepping up
While Rishabh Pant wasn't a part of India's recent incredible Test series win against England, he followed the series closely and was thrilled to see different youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel stepping up when the team needed them the most.
Shedding light on the importance of remaining humble after such achievements early on, Pant stated:
"Over a period of time, new people come to the team and every time you may not see them perform. But when they do it is important to keep their head down and not think too much. Jaiswal is someone who is very down to earth and if he keeps doing what he is doing then he is going to go a long way."
Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Player of the Series award for his staggering 712 runs in five Tests which included two double hundreds. It could be a sight to watch him and Rishabh Pant bat together in Tests for India.