Some of Rishabh Pant's captaincy moves have been surprising: Wasim Jaffer

The Delhi Capitals (DC) captain and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has displayed his ball-striking capabilities in all formats of the game and has been impressive in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. After an impressive stint last season as captain, he was retained ahead of the 2022 auction by the team management.

However, he has not been at his best this season with the bat and has given away his wicket in crunch moments. Ahead of the fixture between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, former Indian cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Deep Dasgupta opined on the present form of Pant.

In eight innings, Pant has amassed 234 runs at an average of 33.43 at a strike rate of 149.04. On being asked about these numbers, Jaffer said that it is surely a decent performance but it does not replicate Pant’s standards. He reckoned that there has been a major tactical error made by Pant on the captaincy front, while adding that he expects him to do a lot better. The former Indian batter further said that the T20 format suits Pant, and he needs to contribute well in the last few matches.

“Those are decent numbers [performance in this season], but not the way he has performed in Test matches, ODIs, and T20s. He has batted at many positions,” said Jaffer on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

“Some of the moves in the captainship have been surprising as well. Sometimes he has sent [Rovman] Powell at number three, and the no-ball controversy, I personally expected him to be a lot better. On the batting front as well, he has not lit up the IPL, and I expect him to do that. This format suits Pant, and the team needs him to contribute in the last five matches to take them to the playoffs,” he added.

I haven’t seen Pant finishing games this season: Deep Dasgupta

Dasgupta reckoned that Pant is an impactful player across all the formats, but has not done well in the ongoing season. He thinks the captaincy burden does put pressure and the player needs to take the responsibility, but it should not come at the cost of changing one’s intent. He further added that the DC captain has displayed the ability to win close games but has been unable to do that this season.

“Pant is an impactful player, but we can’t remember any impactful innings so far. For someone like Rishabh, I am alright if he is not scoring 500 or 600 runs, but I expect him to win games. I know the captaincy burden but he is not KL Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan, who would score 500-600 runs. For me, he might get you 300, all will be in match-winning causes, which I haven’t seen enough,” said Dasgupta.