IND vs AUS | It is not crash and bang with Rishabh Pant, there is a lot of skills involved, opines Ricky Ponting
Pant's approach caught the attention of Ricky Ponting
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Ricky Ponting, having coached Rishabh Pant at Delhi Capitals, has opined that it is not always crash and bang with the southpaw while stating that there is a lot of skills involved in his batting. He also called Ajinkya Rahaneās captaincy āproactiveā with his decision to promote Pant up the order.
Just after Ajinkya Rahaneās timid dismissal, India were truly down and out of the Test, with over an entire day to save the Test while the runs seemingly looked very far. However, the Australiansā hopes were dashed when they saw Rishabh Pant charging down the track at their bowling attack. In real quick time, Pant had not only made India favourites but also shown the Australian bowling their real vulnerability, aided by the multiple drops from skipper Tim Paine.Ā
At one point, it certainly looked like the partnership between Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara would certainly take India home in prime fashion. But Pant was dismissed and so was Pujara, which meant Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin had to bat out for a draw. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, following the Test, credited Pantās batting, stating that it is not always crash and bang with the southpaw while opining that there is a lot of skills involved in his approach.Ā
"It's not all crash and bang with him, there is a lot of skill involved, and he is proper test match batsman to the point today where a lot of the commentators were saying can he play as a batsman in the middle order and have Saha keep,ā Ponting said, reported Hindustan Times.
āLive by the sword, die by the sword,ā attitude best defines Pantās stay at the crease. After doing the hard yards, the left-handed batsman was undone by his own ethos of attacking shots, tamely giving away a wicket to Nathan Lyon. Ponting, however, credited Pantās swagger and confidence, which he stated would boost his confidence.Ā
"Taking on Lyon like he did, even with fielders out says he backs himself and his skillset. I said at the start of the series that there is a chance for him to cement himself as India's keeper-batsman for the next 10-12 years and innings like today will go a long way in helping that."
"It was a masterstroke to put him up there, but he still got to play that innings, and he did it. He does it in his own way; he does it with a bit of swagger and confidence,ā Ponting added.
Ponting also was mightily impressed by Ajinkya Rahaneās leadership, stating that it was āproactiveā captaincy from him to send Pant up the order.Ā
"Very good proactive captaincy or coaching for sending Rishabh up. For India to stay in with a chance to win, they needed to do that. He had a little bit of luck with Paine putting him down a couple of times," Ponting said.
