Published 18:06 IST, December 17th 2019
Gautam Gambhir wants Rishabh Pant to master this special art of MS Dhoni
Gautam Gambhir was impressed with Rishabh Pant's outstanding batting display in the 1st ODI against West Indies in Chennai. Pant registered his maiden ODI fifty
Gautam Gambhir was really impressed with Rishabh Pant's splendid batting performance in the first ODI against West Indies at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. The youngster added 114 runs with Shreyas Iyer after India had lost their top-order early. Pant went on to score his maiden ODI half-century and also registered his highest score in the 50-overs format. Meanwhile, Gambhir also has an expectation from the wicket-keeper batsman.
Gautam Gambhir wants Pant to be a 'Finisher'
While analyzing Rishabh Pant's performance on a cricket show which is hosted by the official broadcasters of the bilateral series, Gautam Gambhir said that Rishabh Pant needs to be consistent. The former opening batsman then added that even though he is not playing red-ball cricket, he is part of the squad and is now playing in all three formats of the game. Gambhir also mentioned that the team management is showing confidence in him and therefore, he needs to be more consistent. At the same time, the 2011 World Cup winner also went on to say that the wicket-keeper batsman needs to convert the 60s & 70s into three-figure scores just like what MS Dhoni used to do. The former left-handed batsman was confident that even if Pant does not manage to get big 100s, he can finish the games for India.
Rishabh Pant appreciates the Chennai crowd
During the post-match press conference after the 1st ODI, when he was asked about the crowd support that he had got from the fans present at the Chepauk Stadium, Rishabh Pant said that sometimes it is important when the crowd supports a player. He then went on to say that as an individual, he was thinking of scoring big runs but was not able to get there. The 22-year-old also mentioned that he is just trying to improve every day. The wicket-keeper batsman also added that from the team's point of view, he was focussing on whatever he could do to help his team win and put up a good score on the scoreboard and in the end, he got some runs.
Updated 18:47 IST, December 17th 2019