Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin praised wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant‘s defensive technique after the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pant had an inconsistent series with the bat, amassing just 255 runs at an average of 28.33. Despite making solid starts, he only scored one half-century in nine innings.
Pant showcased his adaptability in the final Sydney Test, scoring 40 off 98 balls in the first innings and a quick 61 off 33 balls in the second. Ashwin praised Pant’s defensive skills on his YouTube channel and felt his 40-run knock in the first innings was overlooked because of the second innings’ explosive performance.
“We must realise that Rishabh Pant rarely gets out playing a defence. He’s got one of the best defences in world cricket. Defence has become a challenging aspect, he has the best defence with a soft hand.”
“I have bowled to him a lot in the nets, he’s not gotten out, he doesn’t get an edge, he doesn’t get LBW, he has the best defence. I have tried telling it to him. One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, he has to fight it out in Test cricket,” he said.
Ashwin further added:
“I have always grown up hearing that you have fight it out. In Sydney, he played two different knocks in one single game.”
“He got hit everywhere and scored a 40, it will be the least spoken innings of Rishabh Pant. It is very unfair. In the second innings, he scored a swashbuckling fifty, earning him a lot of praise. Everyone forgot that first innings and praised him for the second knock.”
“Rishabh Pant has yet to reach his full potential”- Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin believes Rishabh Pant hasn’t reached his full batting potential and advised him to find a balance between defense and attack. Despite past heroics, Pant was criticized for rash shots and untimely dismissals during the Australian series.
“We have to tell him properly what he has to do if he has to bat solid or bat with intent. He hasn’t scored a lot of runs, but he didn’t play like someone without runs. He has a lot of time on his hands. Rishabh Pant is yet to realise his fullest potential,” said Ashwin.
He further concluded:
“He has all the shots—reverse sweep, slog sweep, everything—but the problem is that all these shots are high-risk shots. With his defence, he will surely score runs every game if he faces 200 balls. The point is finding that middle game. If he combines all of it, he will score 100 runs every game. He has to find that middle game.”
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