India made several changes in the T20I tactic pertaining to the line-up post the Indian Premier League (IPL) where they played against South Africa at home and toured Ireland and England. While few have been based on the availability of players for the series, most have been tactical choices with India still looking to zero in on their squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup. And one of these changes have been pushing Rishabh Pant as an opener in two T20I matches against England. While the sample size remains low, the tactic has been slammed by former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif.
It was for the first time ever Pant has opened in international cricket. Walking in alongside India skipper Rohit Sharma, Pant scored 26 off 15 and 1 off 5 in two matches against England.
While this was a move that many veterans and experts backed, especially after his sensational knock in the Edgbaston Test against England earlier this month, Latif, on Youtube channel ‘Caught Behind', feels that Pant is a more dangerous batter down the order.
“It’s okay that you making him (Rishabh Pant) play at the top, but he is especially dangerous lower down the order. Anybody can be an opener. Nine out of ten in ICC’s top ten rankings actually open. Match hota hai neeche se (Game begins in lower middle order). Look at Shreyas Iyer, he might have scored 28, but it is far better than going to the top and scoring 30 runs,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“It’s okay that you making him (Rishabh Pant) play at the top, but he is especially dangerous lower down the order. Anybody can be an opener. Nine out of ten in ICC’s top ten rankings actually open. Match hota hai neeche se (Game begins in lower middle order). Look at Shreyas Iyer, he might have scored 28, but it is far better than going to the top and scoring 30 runs,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The veteran Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter was also furious with Rohit making too many changes for the line-up, which he feels is "destroying the team".
“I felt India’s tactical changes were too much and they should have won 3-0 looking at the form they were going through. When you get that sort of hold in a series, you should never let it get away. That is something that is there in Australia.”
“They are destroying the team(By making too many changes), they will play someone as a substitute to Virat Kohli, or a substitute to Rohit Sharma which is not possible. You can only build the playing eleven based on these two(Rohit, Virat),” he added.