"Ring up MS Dhoni or talk to Rahul" - Brad Hogg's suggestion for Indian captain Rishabh Pant
Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg has urged young Indian captain Rishabh Pant to be more decisive and take charge of things in the middle. Hogg stated that while Pant can always take advice from seniors like MS Dhoni and KL Rahul, the final decision on the field should be his.
Pant, who was named skipper for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa after Rahul was injured, has been having a tough time dealing with the captaincy. India have lost the first two matches of the five-game series and need to win the Vizag T20I on Tuesday (June 14) to stay alive in the series.
In an Instagram reel, Hogg shared some words of advice for the young Indian keeper-batter and said:
“Pant is the captain right now. One thing that he needs to do is be more decisive and take control in the middle. Don’t let other players come in and over-influence his decision. If he needs to learn anything, he can ring up MS Dhoni or talk to Rahul. Get your tips, go out, back yourself and do the job. Because, when he backs himself, we know that he can achieve anything.”
Apart from the captaincy, the 24-year-old will have to lift his game with the bat as well. While the left-hander scored 26 off 16 in the first T20I, he was dismissed for 5 off 7 in the second game in Cuttack.
“Rohit Sharma has not captained away from India this year” - Brad Hogg
Hogg also had a word of caution for those over-excited over Rohit Sharma’s early success as India captain. While agreeing that the 35-year-old has done a good job so far, he pointed out that the batter is yet to lead India in an away game in 2022. The 51-year-old said:
“Captaincy is always a discussion in India, especially when they are losing. Someone’s made a comment that Rohit Sharma has got a perfect record in 2022. He’s won 11 games from 11. When someone else has captained India, it’s seven games, seven losses. But remember, Rohit Sharma has not captained away from India this year. So, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let’s wait till he gets on foreign soil and see how he handles the pressure then.”
Pointing out that South Africa are the only team that have beaten India this year, Hogg elaborated:
“Five of those games were on South African soil - a couple of Test matches, a couple of one-dayers and two T20Is on Indian soil.”
Vizag - we are here! 👍 👍
See you in the Stadium tomorrow. 👏 👏
#TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @Paytm https://t.co/fQlamvOyHn
Rohit missed the South African tour due to an injury. He returned to captain the team in home games against West Indies and Sri Lanka, which the hosts won without much trouble.