‘How will you tell him not to express himself’ - Deep Dasgupta analyses’ Rishabh Pant’s playstyle

Star Indian wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant left the fans frustrated after his cheap dismissal against Bangladesh in India’s recent T20 World Cup 2024 clash. Pant looked set for a big innings after India’s openers failed to go big. Having scored 36 runs in 24 deliveries, the star player looked set. 

However, an attempt at a sweep saw him give away his wicket cheaply, even attracting frustrated reactions from Virat Kohli. Not only Kohli, many fans were left frustrated, and they took to social media to express their anger over Pant’s shotmaking. 

However, former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta came forward to Pant’s defence, opining that it has always been the way that Pant has played his cricket, and one cannot ask him to not express himself on the field. 

"How will you tell him (Pant) not to express himself and not play the reverse sweep? (laughs). He plays that shot well against the pacers too. So it does become a bit tricky for the coaches as while you want him to play his natural game, you also want him not to be dismissed. So I think the talk would be to tell him to play however he wants as long as he is not getting dismissed,” Deep Dasgupta said on Star Sports Game Plan. 

Kuldeep has been bowling well on these slow wicket: Harbhajan Singh

Furthermore, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was part of the same panel, talked about India’s upcoming game against Australia in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup 2024. He opined that India will have to put special plans in place for Glenn Maxwell, and the spinners could make a difference. 

"Kuldeep has been bowling well on these slow wickets and hasn't given the batters too many balls to rock back on the back foot and hit him for sixes. So you will need to step out to him which is tricky. While Maxwell is unpredictable and can explode at either end, I feel he has scored his runs for the season against Afghanistan and I think Kuldeep will dominate him,” Harbhajan Singh said.