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Rishabh Pant compared to ‘Gary Sobers, Brian Lara’ as England legend rues India star's injury: ‘I’m actually so sorry…'
A former England cricketer compared Rishabh Pant to some legendary players and also rued his broken foot injury.
Much to the disappointment of Indian cricket fans, Rishabh Pant is set to miss the fifth Test of the ongoing five-match series vs England. Pant fractured his toe on Day 1 of the ongoing fourth Test in Manchester, which saw him having to retire hurt. Then to the surprise of everyone, he resumed his innings on Day 2, and registered 54 off 75 balls.
But Pant’s didn't don the gloves, with Dhruv Jurel taking over the wicketkeeper role. Speaking to PTI, England legend David Gower lavished praise on the likes of Pant and Ben Duckett, even comparing them to Brian Lara and Gary Sobers.
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“Tongue-in-cheek…we have always said left-handers are the best. For some reason when you look at left-handed batsmen it seems to be more graceful than right-handed. I’ve watched a lot of great left-handers from my days growing up, Gary Sobers for one, Brian Lara of course probably the best of those when I was first starting to grace commentary boxes and describe these things,” he said.
“Now we have a guy called Ben Duckett, he has a very different style to mine but incredible to watch. Every time I look at him bat you’re kind of wondering what happens next and you cannot forget especially in the context of this series, Rishabh Pant.”
David Gower rues Rishabh Pant's injury
The former England captain also rued Pant’s injury. “I’m actually so sorry that he’s injured, and if this foot thing is terminal (and he is out of the series). There is a man who does the things that only others dream of. Some people call them nightmares but he’s an absolutely brilliant extraordinary player to watch,” he said.
“So, you cannot replicate what he does. You cannot ask a young player, say age 15-16 to bat like Rishabh Pant, go on try that because that would be probably fatal to their career. But when you’ve got someone like that who plays this most extraordinary version of the game you cannot but admire it. He takes incredible to another level,” he added.
According to reports, Pant has been asked to rest for six weeks, and his return to bat on Day 2 came as a surprise. The BCCI hasn’t released an official update yet.
