Team India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant was on the money with the gloves on a difficult Chinnaswamy wicket during the pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. Besides making significant contributions with the bat, Pant displayed exemplary skills behind the wicket.
As Rishabh Pant continues to improve his wicket-keeping skills, an old tweet of former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has resurfaced where he was criticising the former. Pant had missed an easy stumping opportunity against England of Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling.
Taking to the microblogging site, the cricketer-turned-commentator wrote:
“Everyone misses stumping. Even great keepers do but the way Pant missed that stumping of Leach off Ashwin tells me all I need to know about Pant the keeper.”
Everyone misses stumping. Even great keepers do but the way Pant missed that stumping of Leach off Ashwin tells me all I need to know about Pant the keeper.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) February 7, 2021
It must be noted that Pant’s wicketkeeping skills has been a subject of debate in the cricket circle in recent years. However, the 24-year-old cricketer has worked his way and has up his wicket-keeping skills.
Rishabh Pant was sensational behind the stumps in the recently-concluded Test match against Sri Lanka. On a wicket that turned and offered uneven bounce, Pant was swift with the gloves on.
“His keeping was best that I have seen” – Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant
India captain Rohit Sharma also lauded Rishabh’s wicket-keeping skills, calling it as a significant factor of the series. Speaking at the end of the game, the 34-year-old said:
“The most significant factor of his in this series was his keeping. His keeping was best that I have seen. He kept well when England came last year and he seems to get better every time he keeps wickets for India, so that is something that I have been very impressed with.”
He added:
“And also the DRS calls, seems to be making the right calls. DRS, we all know – it’s like a lottery. I have made it very clear with Rishabh what I want. There are certain aspects of the game that I have told him to look into and that’s about it. DRS calls are not something you will always get it right. There will be times when you will be making wrong calls. But that’s absolutely okay.”