It’s important that Rishabh Pant's thought process is not jumbled up: Deep Dasgupta

Rishabh Pant seemed to have rediscovered his batting since the Gabba Test against Australia earlier this year. However, the ongoing five-match Test series against England has exposed the chinks in his batting armour. Even as he played fearless cricket in Australia followed by the home Tests against the Brits, the southpaw has strained with the bat in the current series.

In three Tests thus far, Pant has scored only 87 runs at an average of 17.40 with a top score of 37. Despite the indifferent run of form, veteran cricketer Dinesh Karthik reckoned that Pant doesn’t need to tinker with his technique and should be given time to express himself.

“Pant has got most of his runs that way, he got tons of it in Australia and you will have to give him the time and allow him to flourish. I don’t think he needs to change anything drastically in the middle of the series,” Karthik was quoted as saying in TOI.

Rishabh Pant can still try to be a little careful: Dasgupta

Deep Dasgupta, a former Indian wicketkeeper, said that Pant shouldn’t lose his clarity of thoughts in a bid to come out of jail. The veteran stated that the left-hander is a genuine match-winner, but needs to be more calculative in his shot selections.

“It is important that Pant’s thought process is not jumbled up. If Pant gets going in one innings, he will probably win you the Test match…So you can take that little bit of chance with him. But saying that, Rishabh can still try to be a little careful about his shot selection,” Dasgupta said.

Ollie Robinson and James Anderson have been the chief destroyers for the Three Lions in the bowling department. The pacers have picked up a combined tally of 29 wickets with three five-wicket hauls to their names.

Dasgupta said that Pant needs to learn the art of dealing with balls outside the off-stump. “The likes of Anderson and Robinson know how to use these conditions brilliantly and get left-handers in that channel outside the off-stump bowling over the wicket.

“But if Pant can deal with it initially, he can always do his own jazz — coming down the track or whatever,” he added.

The fourth and penultimate Test is scheduled to get underway on September 2 at the Kennington Oval in London.