Michael Vaughan can already vouch for the Indian superstar
Vaughan closely watched him on the tour of England and that helped him arrive at this conclusion.
The Indian Test team is currently powered by a bunch of youngsters, whether it is the batting line-up with a teenager opening the batting or the bowling attack. One of those players who has managed an immediate impact is wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. Former England captain Michael Vaughan is one of his admirers and refers to Pant as a superstar.
He is just 21 but has already earned a lot of praise for his batting, however, his keeping is still work in progress. Pant put up a good account of himself on the tour of England playing his natural game despite the unfamiliar conditions. His mindset of being positive and constantly looking for scoring opportunities navigated him through. He ended the tour with a magnificent hundred which further enhanced his reputation.
Since Wriddhiman Saha picked up a long-term injury and Dinesh Karthik isn’t clearly the first-choice wicketkeeper, Pant’s batting has helped him cement a place in the Test squad and should most certainly fly to Australia for the tour as well. In the ongoing home series against Windies, he scored 92 in the only innings of the first Test and is batting unbeaten on 85 in the second.
His decisive stroke-play also earned him a spot in the Indian ODI team for the first two matches against Windies in the upcoming series. Pant is seen as the finisher who can bat lower down the order and supplement MS Dhoni’s waning abilities to play the big shots in crunch situations in the game.
Vaughan who would’ve closely watched Pant right through the five-match Test series in England put up a tweet today stating that he has no doubt that the youngster is going to be a superstar.
Here is Vaughan’s tweet:
He wrote- “Without question @RishabPant777 is going to be a Superstar …. #JustSaying …”
Pant is currently in the middle of a 146-run unbeaten partnership with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane in the Hyderabad Test. Their stand has ensured the Indian team is just 3 runs short of the Windies total at the end of day 2. It was a crucial partnership as at one point the Indians were reeling at 162/4 with even the skipper Virat Kohli back in the hut.
The 21-year-old will now want to convert it into his second Test hundred and even go beyond to extend their lead in the game.
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