"Sometimes when I play at a wide delivery or cut a ball too close to the stumps, I keep asking the non-striker" - Rishabh Pant
A notable feature of the three-Test series between India and South Africa was the powerful stump mics which helped bring on-field discussions into our living rooms.
But while most people best remember its utility for getting to hear Virat Kohli and the rest of his team’s unsavory comments directed at the South African broadcasters, Rishabh Pant was heard the most by virtue of being closest to the stumps – both while batting and keeping.
“Kaun se stump pe tha yeh? Main puchta rahunga, aap batate rehna,” the stump mic caught Pant telling Ravichandran Ashwin during their brief partnership on Day 3 of the Cape Town Test. He was given a dressing down by the team management for playing false shots and this was his coping mechanism.
Until then, Pant had scored just 86 runs from five innings. More than the meager returns, it was the manner of his dismissals that seemed to irk the cricket fraternity. But he seemed to put all the negativity behind that day at Newlands. Out of India’s 198 all out, the 24-year-old smashed a disciplined 100* off 139 balls to register the only hundred by an Indian wicketkeeper in the Rainbow Nation.
He was again heard telling Shreyas Iyer the exact same thing during the first ODI in Paarl on Wednesday. Pant revealed he keeps asking his batting partners about the line being bowled to get a better idea of which balls to play and which ones to leave.
“I do that sometimes to get an idea. Because when you are batting, you obviously have an idea of which stump the ball was on, but the non-striker has a better view. So sometimes when I play at a wide delivery or cut a ball which is too close to the stumps, I keep asking the non-striker to get a better idea,” Rishabh Pant said in response to a Sportskeeda query at the press conference after the second ODI.
Pant top-scored for the tourists with a cracking 85 off 71 deliveries, with 10 boundaries and two sixes to boot. But his highest ODI score went in vain as the Proteas chased down 288 with 11 balls and seven wickets remaining. They are now the proud winners of both the Test and ODI series.
Further asked about his talks with the team management, the Delhi lad stated he has had discussions regarding when to play with patience and when to play as per the situation of the match.
“We always have positive discussions, like what I can do as an individual, if strokes are coming or not, when to play with patience or according to the situation. Then we first practise whatever we discuss, before implementing the same in a match,” Rishabh Pant remarked.
Pant now holds the record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in South Africa in both Tests and ODIs.
“I was given the No. 4 slot to make for a left-right combination” – Rishabh Pant
India might have lost the ODI series. But as interim captain KL Rahul admitted at the presentation, there have been lots of positives for them. One of those must be Rishabh Pant, the batter.
After Shreyas Iyer got injured in the home series against England in March 2021, Rishabh Pant scored a sublime 78 off 62 balls – batting at No. 4 – in the third ODI in Pune. Even though Iyer has recovered and come back into the side, Pant has retained the No. 4 slot.
About his promotion, Pant revealed that the team management wanted to have a left-hander batting higher in the order to negate leg-spinners and left-arm spinners operating in the middle overs.
“I was given the No. 4 slot to make for a left-right combination. It makes strike rotation easier, especially when a leg-spinner or left-arm spinner is in operation in the middle overs. That’s why the team management thought a left-hander should be there in the middle,” he said.
After Pant powered India to a competitive 287 for 6, half-centuries by openers Janneman Malan (91 off 108) and Quinton de Kock (87 off 66) meant South Africa bettered their own record for the highest successful run-chase in ODIs at Boland Park.