Rishabh Pant needs to learn finishing games: Ravi Shastri

Earlier this year, 21-year-old Rishabh Pant made his Test debut against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Ever since the Uttarakhand-born wicketkeeper hasn’t looked back. Recently, he played the four-match Test series against Australia and was arguably one of the best players in the red-ball fixtures. He ended as the second leading run-scorer with 350 runs at an incredible average of 58.33.

He scored a magnificent 159 not out in the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) that helped the home team amass a score of 622 in the first innings. In the meantime, Ravi Shastri, the Indian head coach, praised the Young Turk. Moreover, he also mentioned that Pant needs to learn and finish games, something that MS Dhoni has been doing for India for the last 15 years or so.

He is as natural a talent

“We have asked him to go back because he played a lot of cricket. He has played non-stop cricket from the month of June. I think he needed a couple of weeks of break and then he will be playing for the India A team, where we have asked him to do a specific job to do – finish games.

Get into the habit of finishing games. He will be right up there in the thick of things as he is as natural a talent that you can get,” Shastri was quoted as saying to India Today’s Boria Majumdar.

India are now scheduled to play a three-match ODI series against the Aussies, starting December 12 at the SCG itself, followed by the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. However, Pant hasn’t been selected for the 50-overs fixtures. He made his debut against the Windies back in October.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t quite deliver in the limited opportunities he got. With the World Cup in England and Wales set to start on May 30, Pant needs to grab every opportunity with both hands and make sure that he makes the cut for the mega tournament.

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