Our Bureau
New Delhi
Going into the England series it is undeniable that Rishabh Pant, the vice-captain of the Indian test team, is going to be one of the most important batters for India. The young wicket-keeper will have a lot on his plate with him battling tough form in the past few months and the new burdens of leadership with senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring.
Hemang Badani, who is the coach of Delhi Capitals in the IPL has spoken about the added pressures that the star player might face and how the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir can help him through it. He stated that India will benefit the most if Pant doesn’t take leadership pressure and continues to play the way he has for years.
“It’s important that someone like Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, has a chat with him and speaks to him and says, ‘Rishabh tu apna game khel’ (Rishabh just play your game). Don’t think too hard about captaincy, vice captaincy, you’re the second in command, none of that. There is a certain way that you’ve played over the years and that has worked well for you. And I think it will work well for us if he does that again, because he is a batter who comes to the bat at times when the second new ball is due,” Hemang Badani said.
“I genuinely hope it doesn’t change one bit. I think he is somebody who has found the right balance of attacking stroke-making and defensive stroke-making in this cricket. So I don’t see any reason why you should try and change that,” Badani added.
There was a lot of discussion going on who will have the reins of the Indian red-ball side once former captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement. Pant was one of the top names who were being considered for the captaincy, but Shubman Gill was eventually chosen to lead the side with Pant as his deputy.
