If there were doubts on whether Rishabh Pant could continue his form from the Australia tour against England, the left-handed batsman dispelled them all away with his scintillating innings of 91 in the first innings in Chennai. Pant came to strike when India were reeling at 73/4 and the young wicketkeeper-batsman began a counter-attack that left England bowlers stunned.
But despite all his plaudits, Pant failed to get a hundred as he played a poor shot off Dom Bess, and was caught. The left-handed batsman has garnered a reputation for playing risky shots when they are not required, something which kept him in and out of the team for the most part of the past two years. But despite the criticism, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir said that he does not want Pant to change his style of batting too much.
IND vs ENG 1st Test Day 4 - LIVE!
"I would never want Rishabh Pant to change. Because the more you put things in his mind, he would start defending more," Gambhir said on ESPNCricinfo.
"He would start thinking about his shot selection. But he's very instinctive and you like players who are very instinctive. Sometimes you have to take that with a rub of salt as well, when you say why do you have to go and do that (hit a shot) when you are in the 90s. It's a given 100, it's on a platter.
{{/usCountry}}"He would start thinking about his shot selection. But he's very instinctive and you like players who are very instinctive. Sometimes you have to take that with a rub of salt as well, when you say why do you have to go and do that (hit a shot) when you are in the 90s. It's a given 100, it's on a platter.
{{/usCountry}}"But then you get things like this as well - when you are under pressure, he will take the team out of that situation very quickly. So, I would rather tell him to be exactly what he does and just keep improving his shot selection and his mental state of mind of who to take on and who not to take on," Gambhir said.
"Don't tell him to develop a defense or a better technique or become more technically sound. Because the more you become technically sound, you start thinking about what ball to hit, what not to hit, and it starts playing with your instincts. I want Pant to be an instinctive player for as long as he plays," Gambhir signed off.