Gambhir asserts 'Rishabh Pant can never be Dhoni' as Delhi keeper's poor form persists

As Rishabh Pant's poor performance in the IPL 2020 continues, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that the Delhi wicketkeeper's comparison with former India skipper MS Dhoni has probably taken a toll on him. Asserting that the comparisons between the two need to stop, Gambhir highlighted the difference between the two and added that Pant needed to improve more. An explosive batsman otherwise, Pant has had a rather quiet season this year, despite Delhi qualifying for the playoffs. 

However, Rishabh Pant failed to make an impact yet again as Delhi faced defeat against defending-champions Mumbai on Thursday in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2020. 

“You have to stop comparing Rishabh Pant that he is an alternative to MS Dhoni. Because the more media talks about it, the more he starts thinking on that front. He can never be MS Dhoni. He has to be Rishabh Pant. And, at the same time, MS Dhoni had so much of range when he came on the scene. And, Rishabh Pant, just because he can hit sixes, people started comparing him with MS Dhoni,” Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.

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”Rishabh Pant has a lot to improve, especially from the keeping point of view, but from the batting point as well. But then if I see, the bowlers have got smarter, they have started bowling wider outside the off-stump and he has struggled. That’s the reason, first and foremost, people around him and in the media need to stop comparing him with MS Dhoni,” he added.

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Tom Moody on Pant's poor performance

Explaining the reason behind Rishabh Pant's poor form in the IPL 2020, former Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody believes that it is due to the wicketkeeper's fitness that he has been unable to score big this season. Pant has been unable to play the fiery innings that he is known for and has had a very quiet season so far. 

I think one of the thing's that has derailed Pant's IPL to this point is being how he arrived at the IPL. I think from my understanding, his condition was not in a place that it needed to be in. I respect the fact that everyone has been in lockdown and there has been some challenges around that but to me, there is no excuse. Absolutely no excuse. We are not playing in the 80s or the 70s," Moody had said earlier. 

In the IPL 2020 so far, Pant has managed to score 274 runs off the 10 matches that he has played. The wicketkeeper-batsman averages 35.26 with the highest score of 38. Comparatively, Pant had amassed 684 runs in the 2018 IPL and 488 in the 2019 season. 

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