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‘Rishabh Pant tries to do what MS Dhoni does but he’s nowhere near it': Pujara says LSG captain ‘not a finisher’
Rishabh Pant has never played as a finisher like the legendary Dhoni and should not try to do something unnatural in the middle of a tournament, said Pujara.
Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara said Rishabh Pant is nowhere near being as good a finisher as MS Dhoni is and therefore, he should not even try to perform that role. Pujara's comments came after Pant, in a storage and largely criticised move, came out to bat at No.7 against Delhi Capitals in Lucknow Super Giants' home match at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday.
The LSG captain, who largely painted a sorry and frustrating picture right through the middle overs, faced only two balls in the innings. What's worse? He could not score a single run in those two balls. In his first ball, he charged down the track to hit Mukesh Kumar out of the park but ended up slogging without any contact. Mukesh went for a full yorker in the last ball of the LSG innings and Pant, in an attempt to reverse lap, dragged the ball onto his stumps to get dismissed for a two-ball duck.
Despite an 87-run opening partnership, LSG managed only 159/6 in their 20 overs. Pujara said the ideal position for Pant to bat in T20s is the middle overs. The left-hander has never played as a finisher like the legendary Dhoni and should not try to do something unnatural in the middle of a tournament.
"There's no doubt he should be batting up the order. He's trying to do what MS Dhoni does, but he's nowhere near that. He should be batting in the middle overs between 6 and 15. He's not a finisher and should not be doing the job of a finisher," Pujara said on ESPNCricinfo.
‘Doesn’t look right when your captain slides down': Knight on Pant
Pant has generally batted at No 4 or 5 in this IPL but against DC, he decided to send Abdul Samad, David Miller and Ayush Badoni ahead of him.
Former England opener Nick Knight was not alien to the concept of batting Badoni ahead of Pant as he believes, the right-hander has a better chance of scoring runs on current form but he didn't like the captain of the team sliding down as low as No.7
"I have no problems with Badoni batting at 4 or 5. I see some rationale there. He's more likely to score runs at the moment than Rishabh Pant, even Abdul Samad, and David Miller. What I don't like is that he's your captain. If he keeps sliding down the order when you really need him to step up... He's the one who's going to be standing up and talking to the team, he's your leader. It doesn't look great when your leader is going in the other direction," Knight said.
Pant, the costliest pick in the IPL's history, has not had a good start to his stint as LSG's captain. In 9 matches, he has only one noteworthy score of 63 in this IPL. The swashbuckling left-hander is averaging 13 in this IPL with an abysmal strike rate of 96.36.
