"He has taken enrolment in Virat Kohli's theory" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Rishabh Pant's dismissal
Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that Rishabh Pant's propensity to jump onto the front foot, much like Virat Kohli, is leading to his dismissals against short-of-a-length deliveries.
Pant nicked an Ollie Robinson delivery to Jos Buttler behind the wickets in the fourth over of the final day's play of the Lord's Test. Although Team India seemed to be down and out at that moment, they staged a remarkable comeback to register an unlikely win.
During a discussion on the Sony Sports network, Sanjay Manjrekar reflected on Rishabh Pant's dismissal and said:
"His dismissal was quite interesting. The ball was not full but Rishabh Pant plays that ball on the front foot. He has taken enrolment in Virat Kohli's theory, that he stands outside the crease and plays off the front foot against that delivery."
The former Indian cricketer believes that Rishabh Pant would be better served if he plays the short-of-a-length deliveries off the back foot. Manjrekar elaborated:
"When the ball moves slightly, it can cause problems. The same ball, if you see Joe Root, KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma, they will play it off the back foot. When it is pitched up his bat comes properly but when it is short of length, he has a weakness there and he got out."
All three of Rishabh Pant's dismissals in the series have come against short-of-a-length deliveries. While he was caught behind in both innings at Lord's, he chipped a catch to short cover in the only knock he played at Trent Bridge.
"Rishabh Pant will have to improve there" - Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag added that Rishabh Pant will either have to leave or play an aggressive shot against such deliveries. He explained:
"He will also have to understand, as he keeps playing cricket going forward, that he is uncomfortable against that line and length or he gets out. So he will have to improve there. Either he has to leave them or hit. It is not that the ball was going away too much with the angle, it is near the off stump but if it comes in from there he is neither going to get LBW nor bowled."
The former Indian opener signed off by stating that even Rishabh Pant will be aware of this shortcoming in his game and will want to rectify the issue. Sehwag observed:
"So if he leaves that, he will survive, else play a shot. So, I feel this is a concern for Rishabh Pant which he will also realize that he is getting out to the balls pitching in that area and he should not get out next time around."
Rishabh Pant could have been caught in two minds as he was batting with the tail at the moment. The onus was on him to take strike as much as possible apart from scoring some much-needed runs.