India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has opened up on playing high-risk shots in delicate situations. During a conversation with the commentator Ravi Shastri, Pant spoke about the reason for being ultra-aggressive while batting.
Pant is currently playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. He has scored 87 runs in the first two Tests of the series at an average of 21.75 with the best score of 37. He spoke with Ravi Shastri ahead of the third Test of the series at Gabba, Brisbane.
Rishabh Pant on playing at the Gabba again
While speaking to Ravi Shastri, Rishabh Pant claimed to be positive and high in confidence while playing at the Gabba. He also revealed that he plays according to a particular situation in a positive way.
“It’s amazing, when I entered (The Gabba) I got a positive feeling. It gives a positive attitude and confidence in a series where things are level, it makes you want to do well,” Pant told Shastri.
“Playing the situation has been a learning for me, bailing out the team from a hard situation. Sometimes it’s hard, most of the time I need to keep telling myself to think positive,” he added.
Pant played a blinder last time India played Australia at Gabba during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. He scored an unbeaten 89 off 138 balls during the second innings of the match and took India to a famous win. Pant was adjudged Player of the Match for his historic performance.
Rishabh Pant opens up on playing high-risk shots
The star wicketkeeper-batter further mentioned the reason behind playing attacking shots even when the situation is delicate. Pant revealed that he backs himself to play such shots and relies on playing percentage cricket.
“There are easy ways to do it but that’s where I put my foot down and keep doing the same thing that has given me a lot of success,” Pant said.
“Generally I don’t practice such (unorthodox sweep and scoop) shots, it’s a game-plan according to the bowlers because it’s not always easy to just defend the ball. My mindset tells me it’s safer, I always play percentage cricket,” he added.
Rishabh Pant is yet to score a big one in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy but is still one of the most important players for India in Test cricket. The left-handed batter has a stellar Test record which makes him such a dominant player for India in this format.
Rishabh Pant’s numbers in Test cricket
Pant has played 40 Tests so far and scored 2780 runs at an average of 42.76 with 6 hundreds and 14 fifties. He has scored all these runs at a wonderful strike rate of 74.73. The left-handed batter has already scored 4 overseas hundreds in Test cricket.
Over the years, Rishabh Pant’s wicketkeeping has also improved. He has transformed himself as one of the best wicketkeeper-batter going around in Test cricket. Pant is known for his impact as he possesses the ability to win the match for his team with his brilliance with the bat.