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'He's a match-winner but can't bat like this': Legendary India all-rounder furious with Pant, suggests a 'break' for him
The veteran cricketer suggested that the team management should rather give him a break and bring in Wriddhiman Saha for the Cape Town Test.
Former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal has been left absolutely furious with Rishabh Pant's batting performance in the second innings of the Johannesburg Test against South Africa and feels that the youngster should be given a break from the the third tie in Cape Town.
Pant aggressive approach has won India's many matches, which includes twin victories in Australia last January - in Sydney and in Brisbane with his fourth-innings heroics. But the same approach saw him getting dismissed for a duck in the second innings when he looked to go over the top.
The dismissal has drawn a lot of criticism with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar slamming him for his needless shot. Madan too joined the debate opining that although he is a “match-winning player”, Pant needs to understand that he is batting for the team and not for himself. He even suggested that the team management should rather give him a break and bring in Wriddhiman Saha for the Cape Town Test.
“He should be given a break. And you have someone like Wriddhiman Saha. He is a sensible batsman. He is a very good wicketkeeper. But Pant has to decide how he wants to bat in Test cricket. If there is some doubt in his mind, it is better to give him a break. He is a match-winning player, but you cannot bat like this. You have to bat for the team and not for yourself,” he said on Aaj Tak.
Answering an ANI query on Thursday, after India's seven-wicket defeat in Johannesburg, head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that there is a need for a conversation with Pant regarding the shot selection.
"In the sense that, we know Rishabh is a positive player and he plays in a particular manner which has gotten him success. But yeah, of course, there are times, we will have a level of conversations with him around, it is just about the timing of that shot you know. No one is going to tell Rishabh not to be a positive or aggressive player. Sometimes it is about choosing the timing to do that," said Dravid.
"When you have just come in, giving yourself some more time would be more advisable. We know what we are getting with Rishabh, he is a very positive player, he is someone who can change the course of the game for us, so we won't take that away from him and ask him to become something very different. It is about figuring out when is the right time to attack. He is learning, he plays in a particular way but he will keep learning," he added.
