Former South African pacer Dale Steyn has expressed that Indian skipper Rishabh Pant hasn’t learned from his previous mistakes. The wicket-keeper batter was once dismissed cheaply in the ongoing T20I against South Africa.
Rishabh Pant scored only 17 runs off 23 balls for India in the fourth T20I on Friday. So far, he has managed only 57 runs in four innings at a dismal average of 14.25. The 24-year-old has been getting out in a similar fashion, to deliveries wide outside of off-stump.
Speaking on Espncricinfo’s ‘T20 Time Out’, Dale Steyn criticized Rishabh Pant’s so far in the series. He stated that Dinesh Karthik has shown his class in every match, but Pant has failed to do so. Steyn said,
“Pant has had four opportunities in this series, where he seems to be making the same mistakes. Also, you think that good players learn from their mistakes, but he has not. DK has just come out every single time and shown what a class player he is.”
Dale Steyn added that if Dinesh Karthik continues his good run he will board the flight to Melbourne for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 later this year. He stated,
“If you want to win the World Cup, you want to pick a guy who is in form. There are guys who team will pick on reputation, but DK is in such fantastic form, if he continues this form, he is going to be one of the first names written down on the plane when India tours for the World Cup later this year.”
Dinesh Karthik slammed his maiden T20I century on Friday. He scored 55 runs off just 27 balls, including nine boundaries and two sixes. The veteran cricketer earned the Player of the Match award.
.@DineshKarthik put on an impressive show with the bat & bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia beat South Africa in Rajkot. 👏 👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/9Mx4DQmACq #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/RwIBD2OP3p
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 17, 2022
Dinesh Karthik puts bowlers under pressure on ball one, then they don’t really have an answer – Dale Steyn
Dinesh Karthik has come into the T20I series on the back of a brilliant performance in the Indian Premier League. He played the finisher’s role for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament. Karthik’s batting exploits earned him a comeback in the Indian team.
Dale Steyn expressed that Dinesh Karthik reads and understands the game well. He added that the Indian cricketer puts the bowlers under pressure from ball one, and the bowlers then have no clue to make a comeback. Dale Steyn said,
“DK has been in phenomenal form. This year, he is getting better and better. He has the wicketkeeper mentality, he reads the game really well, he knows and understands what bowlers are trying to do and he backs it up with very good skill. He reverse sweeps, sweeps, laps. They are shots being played by somebody who reads and understands the game, understands what the bowler is going to bowl when before he runs up to bowl.”
“He does it so well, he attacks the first and last ball of the over, he puts the bowlers under pressure on ball one, and then the guys, they don’t really have an answer,” he added.
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