Rampant Rishab, Team in a dither over keeping slot
The explosive wicketkeeper-batsman says his century in warm-up game was a confidence-booster
By : migrator
Update: 2020-12-14 18:56 GMT
Sydney
Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant says the hundred that he struck in the recently-concluded pink-ball warm-up game here was just the confidence-booster he needed ahead of the Test series against Australia starting December 17.
Pant, who struggled with fitness and form in this year’s IPL in the UAE, created a happy selection dilemma for the Indian team management by smashing a 73-ball 103 in the visitors’ second innings against Australia A in the second practice game here.
India will now have to choose between Pant and the redoubtable Wriddhiman Saha, who has shown himself to be a solid wicket-keeper, for the series-opener (D/N game) in Adelaide, starting Thursday.
“When I went out to bat a lot of overs were left, so (Hanuma) Vihari and I wanted to build a good partnership. We wanted to bat as much as possible. I was just trying to give myself as much time as possible and slowly I started to develop confidence,” Pant told the BCCI’s official website.
“This hundred has been a big confidence-booster for me. It’s been a month, I am in Australia but I didn’t get the chance to play in the first practice match because of a stiff neck.
“In the first innings here I was unlucky as I felt the LBW decision was wrong from the umpire. In the second innings, my focus was to spend as much time as possible and the result is I got a good innings under my belt,” he said.
The 23-year-old left-hander said the team’s main focus in the second practice game, as a batting unit, was to spend time in the middle against the pink ball.
“In the first innings we got out little early because there was a lot of moisture on the wicket. In the second innings, we got an idea about the wicket...so in the second innings everyone tried and applied more,” he said.
“The batting unit was keen to spend as much time as possible in the middle,” Pant said detailing the team’s plan. It was necessary to play the practice match with the pink ball.
“The bowlers bowled well, the batsmen got good time at the crease. Everyone did well, so I think we got very good practice because playing under lights is little difficult,” he added.
Wriddhiman Saha’s far superior glovework may be given preference over Rishabh Pant’s blazing blade in India’s opening day/night Test against Australia, starting at the Adelaide Oval from Thursday.
One of the most hotly debated topics going into the first Test has been the Indian team’s probable playing XI, with the jury still out on whether the better keeper in 36-year-old Saha pips the better batsman that the 23-year-old Pant is.
The Indian team management has kept its cards close to its chest with Hanuma Vihari terming it a “healthy competition” that augurs well for the side.
There is a school of thought in the team that Saha’s superior glovework and also safe batting should be valued more at this point of time.
Coach Ravi Shastri, captain Virat Kohli, assistant coaches Vikram Rathour, Bharat Arun and travelling selector Harvinder Singh will be assessing both Pant and Saha’s performance based on their individual contributions in match situations.
Saha averages 30 plus in 37 Tests with 1238 runs and three hundreds in his kitty. Besides, he has 103 dismissals behind the stumps, including 92 catches and 11 stumpings.
Still, even if Saha goes on to play the first Test, it wouldn’t mean that Pant would be out of equation as the Bengal stumper would need to perform decently with the bat to keep his younger competitor out of reckoning for a place in the first XI.
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