Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
'He should be in Russell mode in T20s. No matter who the bowler is, just smack it': Shastri's big advice for India star
In eight of the 10 innings this season, Pant has scored at a 20 and has scored at over a strike rate of 145 in at least seven of those innings, however, he has failed to convert any of his starts.
Delhi Capitals have their 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season hanging on a thread. Besides winning their last three games, they also need a few other factors to go their way in a bid to make the playoffs. And for Delhi to make a turnaround in the last three matches, former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Delhi captain Rishabh Pant needs to go all guns blazing as a batter. Shastri was Pant to bat in "Russell mode" whole also advising him to bat at No.3 for the Capitals in the remaining games. (Follow IPL 2022 full coverage)
In 10 innings this season, Pant has scored 281 runs at a strike rate of 152.7, which is best since the 2019 season when he scored at 162.7 strike rate. In eight of those matches, Pant has scored at a 20 and has scored at over a strike rate of 145 in at least seven of those innings, however he has failed to convert any of his starts.
"I feel once he gets the tempo going he shouldn't change, he should be in the [Andre] Russell mould in this format of the game," Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out. "You get your eye in, you're striking it well - don't think too much. No matter who the bowler is, if it's there to be smacked, smack it. Who knows, you might win more matches than people expect you to."
The former India all-rounder then pointed out that clarity in thought has set Russell's batting apart, making him one of the most destructive players in T20 cricket.
"Russell is very, very clear in his mindset. It is bang-bang-bang once he's in the mood. There's no stopping him, there's not even a negative thought that will peep through his system - it is [all about] smacking. Rishabh is totally capable of playing in that fashion, and I hope he thinks in that way because you'll see some special innings from him in T20 cricket."
In his initial years in IPL, Pant had emulated the same for Delhi, scoring 1172 runs from 30 innings across the 2018 and 2019 season, a strike rate of almost 170 and at an average of 45 with nine fifty-plus knocks. Pant had announced himself as a destructive T20 batter with his sensational form in 2018 which subsequently led to the Dhoni comparisons and an India debut.
However, since being given the captaincy responsibility, the burden has had an effect on his strike rate. Last season, he had managed 419 runs at a strike rate of 128.5.
"I'd like to see him bat at three for Delhi Capitals, especially now when the heat is on, when they've got to win. Let him go and smack it," Shastri concluded.
