'Sachin Tendulkar's first century came as opener' - Sanjay Bangar presents 'out of the box' idea for struggling Rishabh Pant

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, speaking about Rishabh Pant’s batting struggles, compared the wicketkeeper-batter’s form to that of batting great Sachin Tendulkar from his early days in the ODI. He pointed out that it took Tendulkar over 70 matches to register his first ODI century, which came only after he was pushed to open the innings after vastly playing in the middle-order.

Bangar said that although Ishan Kishan is doing well right now at the top, Pant can also deliver from that position. He said that, at the moment, if the Indian team is looking for a left-hand-right-hand opening combination, Pant can be the choice for a left-handed batter opening the innings for a long term.

“I’ve been thinking about it for 3 years. If you look at Sachin Tendulkar’s career, he hit his first century in his 75th or 76th innings when he was asked to open the innings against New Zealand after batting largely in the middle-order,” said Bangar on Star Sports.

Rishabh Pant can do the job that Adam Gilchrist did for Australia: Bangar said.

“Right now, the Indian team is looking at a left-right combination. Yes, Ishan Kishan is doing good right now, but if the Indian team is eyeing a left-right opening pair for the long term, Rishabh Pant can do the same job that someone like Adam Gilchrist did for Australia,” added Bangar.

Another former India all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, also spoke about promoting Pant in the batting order. He said that although there will be a challenge with the ball swinging early on in the innings, Pant is a quality batter who can cope with that. Pathan feels Pant opening the innings might happen in the future, although he reckons it might not happen now. He also highlighted Pant’s issues with balls outside off-stump, as the latter was dismissed going after off-side deliveries three times in the recently-concluded T20I series against South Africa.  

“We’re talking about off-side (problem) for a long time now. But when does it happen? When the field opens up,” said Pathan. “Can we use Rishabh Pant in the powerplay where the bowlers can’t give enough width? Yes, there will be challenge because the ball will swing early on, but then, Rishabh Pant is a quality batter. So, I’m thinking along those lines. It may not be right now, but maybe in the future,” he added.