'Expect some game-changing innings from him': Gavaskar's bold prediction about India youngster

Gavaskar said one can ‘expect game-changing knocks’ from India's attacking batsman during the English summer.

Rishabh Pant’s presence at No.6 in India’s Test side has given Virat Kohli a chance to play an extra bowling option, feels former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. Pant is set to be India’s wicketkeeper-batsman for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand starting on Friday at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

Sunil Gavaskar expects Rishabh Pant to have a good tour of England. (Getty Images)

Gavaskar said one can ‘expect game-changing knocks’ from the attacking left-hander during the English summer.

"Rishabh Pant has now got even better in shot selection as we saw in Australia. His batting allows the team to go in with an extra spinner or pacer. Expect some game-changing innings from him in the summer," Gavaskar told PTI.

Pant made an outstanding comeback in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne and went on to play a match-saving innings in Sydney and then a match-winning one at the Gabba to help India beat Australia 2-1. The left-hander carried on his superb form in the home Test series against England where he scored a century in Ahmedabad.

While Pant is expected to carry his belligerent form, eyes will be on Kohli as to how he goes about in his third tour of England. The India captain was in red-hot form last time around, scoring 593 runs but big scores have kind of dried out from the bat of Kohli in Tests lately. But that should not be a matter of concern, reckons Gavaskar.

"The influence of one-day cricket had made some batsmen play the ball on the rise or through the line as it is called. Most times, they get away where the ball doesn't move but in England where it moves, it's important to get closer to the ball," he said.

Playing "on the rise" or "through the line" in cricketing parlance means when a batsman makes contact with the ball even before it has reached the top of its bounce.

"Virat Kohli hardly ever plays through the line even on flat pitches and he plays late covering any movement off the pitch and that's why he is successful on all types of surfaces. In the recent series against England in India he didn't get a century but his 60-odd in Chennai was a wonderful exhibition on how to play spin bowling. He was smelling the ball and that's the hallmark of all great batsmen," said the former India captain.