"Rishabh Pant will have to show his destructive form if India has to gain greater control" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra has opined that Rishabh Pant will have to be at his dominant best for Team India to seize the advantage in the second Test against England.
The visitors are comfortably placed at a score of 276/3 at stumps on the first day of the Lord's Test. Centurion KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane are the overnight batsmen, with Pant and Ravindra Jadeja slated to come in next.
While previewing the second day's play in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra named Rishabh Pant as the player who could swing the match decisively towards India. He said:
"Whatever has happened is gone, I feel Rishabh Pant will have to show his destructive form if India has to gain greater control."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the conditions are favorable for Rishabh Pant to play a blazing knock. Chopra elaborated:
"The situation in which England is there now, the second new ball has become slightly old and the pitch is also looking flat and most of the bowlers would have bowled quite a few overs by the time he comes to bat. We are seeing a full-house crowd, it will be a Friday and the heat of the contest will go up. I think it is going to be Rishabh Pant."
Rishabh Pant is renowned for taking the attack to the opposition bowlers even in the longest format of the game. He will hope that Rahul and Rahane can lay a good foundation on the second day and allow him to be at his buccaneering best.
"I have expectations of runs from Rishabh Pant and Jaddu" - Aakash Chopra
On the flip side, Aakash Chopra sounded a note of caution that India has a long tail after Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja which might fall like a pack of cards. He highlighted:
"I have expectations of runs from Rishabh Pant and Jaddu but I also feel that the No.8 to No.11 can get dismissed for 25-30 runs. Once one out of Rishabh Pant or Jaddu gets out, the rest will fall in a jiffy. Mark Wood can come there and hit your stumps because he has quite a lot of pace."
Team India will hope that the lower-order batsmen can hang around if Rishabh Pant is there at the other end and help the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman in putting together crucial runs.