Visakhapatnam: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir reckons young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant should be more consistent with the bat as the team management has shown a lot of faith in him in the recent past.
On Sunday, Pant scored 71 runs off 69 balls and alongside Shreyas Iyer (70), shared a crucial partnership of 114 runs for the fourth wicket to help India post a 288-run target in the first ODI of the three-match rubber in Chennai. However, their efforts went in vain as Shimron Hetmyer (139) and Shai Hope (102) scored blistering centuries and helped the visitors chase down the total with 13 balls to spare.
Speaking on Pant’s performances from the game at Nerolac Cricket Live show exclusively on Star Sports, Gambhir said: “He (Pant) needs to be consistent, he is playing in all three formats. He is not playing Test cricket but he is part of the squad which shows the faith from the team management - but he still needs to get more consistent. He needs to convert the 60-70s into 100 as well, that’s what MS Dhoni used to do a lot as well.”
Ever since Pant replaced M.S. Dhoni in the limited-overs circuit, he has been criticized by many, be it for his batting, wicket-keeping skills or be his role when it comes to reviews.
“Even if he (Pant) would not get those big 100s, he would be their righty till the end,” added the former opener. IANS