The former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has showered much praise on Rishabh Pant after his exceptional England tour. Pant turned out to be a savior for the visiting Indian side as the 24-year-old scored a ton in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test, which however ended up in a losing cause.
But, again, in the third encounter of the 3-match One Day International (ODI) series, Pant smashed an unbeaten hundred and guided India to the victory in Manchester. India then, won the ODI series by 2 -1, following their T20 International series success.
Praising the lefty wicketkeeper batter, Akhtar said that Pant is not afraid and has a variety of shots to play. Akhtar stated: “He has the cut shot, pull shot, reverse sweep.. he isn’t afraid. He won the match in Australia, he won the match here (in England) and took India to a series victory.”
However, Akhtar went on to advise Pant about his weight and asked him to concentrate on fitness and the Rawalpindi Express stated that Pant is ‘good-looking’ and can emerge as a model to earn crores as India has a massive market. He said: “He is a little overweight. I hope he takes care of that. Because India’s market is big. He’s good-looking. He can emerge as a model, earn in crores. Because whenever a person becomes a star in India, a lot of investment is made on them.” Akhtar was speaking on his YouTube channel.
Pant is going to be a superstar, says Shoaib Akhtar
Furthermore, Akhtar applauded Pant’s calculated approach against England particularly in the third ODI. Akhtar also pointed out that Pant can accelerate the innings whenever he wants. The 46-year-old proclaimed that Pant is going to be a superstar and there’s no one who can stop him but himself.
Besides, Pant had scored an unbeaten knock of 125 runs in 113 deliveries, under pressure, when the Indian top-order had fallen consistently. In the Test too, Pant went on to score a fantastic individual total of 146 runs in 111 deliveries; his fifth Test career hundred. He will be back in action against West Indies for a 5-match T20I series.
Written By Prachi Pisal
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