Comparisons have been common in any form of sport - between two rival nations, between two generations or between players from the same team vying for a similar spot in the set up. Rishabh Pant and Mohammad Rizwan have been two stalwarts of modern era cricket. While the Indian rose the fame with his aggressive batting and heroics across formats, Rizwan has not just become a key member of the Pakistan side in all formats, he is also part of the leadership group.
With both Pant and Rizwan being wicketkeeper-batters, their comparison among veterans and analysts have been freshly brewing and former Pakistan pacer Aqib Javed joined the bandwagon earlier this week, having his say on the debate during an interview with ARY News’ show Sports Room.
Javed picked his compatriot over Pant, opining that Rizwan take more responsibility in finishing off games rather than his Indian counterpart, whom he did hail as a skilful player but added that he tends to get out after hitting just a few big shots.
“Rizwan is better than Pant these days. There is no doubt that Pant is an extremely skilful player but the way Rizwan takes the responsibility, Pant is well behind him. It is often said that Pant is an aggressive player, but the aggressiveness doesn’t mean to hit a couple of big shots and got out but to stay at the crease, fight, and finish the game,” Javed said.
{{/usCountry}}“Rizwan is better than Pant these days. There is no doubt that Pant is an extremely skilful player but the way Rizwan takes the responsibility, Pant is well behind him. It is often said that Pant is an aggressive player, but the aggressiveness doesn’t mean to hit a couple of big shots and got out but to stay at the crease, fight, and finish the game,” Javed said.
{{/usCountry}}The former cricketer also reiterated his opinion on comparing Shaheen Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah again, during the interview.
“I now think that Shaheen is better than Bumrah because when Shaheen came into the international circuit Bumrah had already established himself and the critics used to say that Bumrah is doing well in Tests, T20Is, and so but now Shaheen has proved he is even better and has more capacity than Bumrah,” he said.