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'He's just 24. He's sure to play for 10 more years': Legendary IND all-rounder backs Pant to break massive Dhoni record
Pant's blitzkrieg knock saw him break Kapil Dev's 40-year-old record as he became the Indian batter to score fastest Test half-century.
Young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Sunday added yet another feather to his cap as he scripted a huge Indian record and broke a world record simultaneously with his fiery 28-ball half-century in the second innings of the Bengaluru pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka. And following the mighty feat, legendary Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels made a massive predicted for young Pant.
Pant's blitzkrieg knock saw him break Kapil Dev's 40-year-old record as he became the Indian batter to score fastest Test half-century. The knock also made him the wicketkeeper-batter to score the fastest fifty in Tests, breaking MS Dhoni's record of 34 balls.
Speaking to Star Sports after Day 2's play, Irfan praised the youngster for his knock saying that he has shown improvement in his method and ability to stay longer at the crease.
"There is a method for sure, but what has impressed me the most is that there has been improvement in his method. Earlier he used to play shots only on the leg side but now plays shots on the off-side as well," he said.
"He now tries to find a way to stay on the pitch, doesn't only try to hit. The record-breaking knock we saw, it was not that he didn't play a defensive shot at all. The defence was also there."
40 of his 50 runs came through boundaries as he laced 7 fours and 2 sixes in his 30-ball stay.
Irfan then made a huge prediction saying that Pant will end his career as the highest scoring Indian wicketkeeper-batter. The record is presently held by Dhoni, who had ended his career with 4876 runs in 90 Tests. Pant is presently fourth on the list with 1920 runs in just 30 Tests.
"He is just a 24-year-old boy, and at such a young age, so much improvement has been seen in his cricket. I believe by the time he finishes his cricket career, there is still a long way to go, you will see him play 10 years of international cricket for sure, he will become India's highest run-scoring wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, I have no doubt about that," he said.
"He scored extremely valuable runs on a difficult pitch; there was a question mark on his consistency earlier for sure, but we are now regularly seeing a maturing young player. A gift is coming his way from Kapil Paaji."
