'He's obviously a massive miss' - Anjum Chopra analyses team India's balance in Rishabh Pant's absence

Former India women's cricketer Anjum Chopra has spoken about the men's team faltering at the recently held ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. The Indian batting line-up struggled in front of the Australian bowling attack as they suffered a humiliating 209-run defeat in the summit clash at The Oval in London. 

Notably, India failed in both the batting and bowling departments during the all-important Test match. Batting second, India could manage to score only 296 after conceding 469 runs to Australia in their first innings. Australia then declared at 270/8 and bowled out team India with 234 runs to clinch the title.

In an exclusive interview with News 18, Chopra was asked if Pant's absence was a major factor for India in the one-off Test. To which, she replied that Pant was a major miss for the side but lauded keeper-batter KS Bharat, remarking he was excellent behind the stumps. She continued by saying that it is inappropriate to make comparisons between Bharat's batting in the format to that of Pant's.

"He’s obviously a massive miss. But let’s not be unfair to KS Bharat. I thought he kept really well. That was his primary job – to keep wickets and he did it very well. If we say that we have to rely on his batting and because we didn’t have that kind of a performance that Rishabh Pant could provide the team, then I think, we are probably looking at it in a wrong manner," Anjum Chopra said.

Chopra criticises India batters for their performance in WTC final 

The cricketer-turned-commentator slammed India's batters, mentioning that the team has a top order that is supposed to bat and a middle order that is supposed to support. The 46-year-old went on to say that if someone flips things around, they are perceiving things incorrectly. She added Pant is a fantastic player, and the sooner he returns, the better for him, and for everyone around.

"We have a top-order that is supposed to bat, a middle-order which is supposed to support and a lower-order which requires to just assist. If you turn things around then you are reading things in the wrong way. Having said that, Rishabh is a quality player and the sooner he comes back, it’s better for him, for fans like me and for everyone around," the former cricketer added.