Naturally attacking Rishabh Pant maturing with age: Gavaskar lauds India star

India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant played an attacking knock of 20 off 11 balls against Afghanistan in the team’s first Super 8 match at the T20 World Cup 2024. Pant, who is playing his first tournament for India since returning from his long injury layover has already impressed with his batting in the tournament. On Thursday, Pant attacked the Afghan bowlers when Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were struggling to score runs. Former India batter Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Pant for his attitude and fitness and for recovering from his injuries at a rapid pace.

Speaking on Star Sports after India’s win against Afghanistan on Thursday, 20 June. Gavaskar sounded impressed with Rishabh Pant’s willingness to run and catch balls in the field. Gavaskar said that Pant’s mobility has been impressive and it shows that he has really worked on his fitness.

“It’s a miracle, you know? I mean, we all were so concerned when we heard about the accident. We heard about the severity of the injuries and we were all praying for him just to be ok. But not only has he been ok, he’s come back so strongly. He’s lost a little bit of weight, which was probably needed and it looked at one stage that he was just maybe getting a little overweight. He’s lost a lot of bit of weight and he’s looking so good, so fit,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

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“Look at his mobility. Those two catches that he took, he was. He ran about 20-30 yards. I know the ball was up in the air, but there was Rohit Sharma there, one of the safest pairs of hands in the game. But wicketkeeper’s gloves are always much safer than ordinary hands, you know, plain hands. So he was there and again recognising the situation,” Gavaskar added.

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The legendary batter spoke about Pant’s batting in the T20 World Cup and said that Pant would mature with age. The left-hander looked in great touch against Afghanistan but got out trying to reverse sweep Rashid Khan, by getting trapped in front of the wickets.

“This is the maturity that is so important. We’ve seen it with Hardik Pandya, we are seeing it in Rishabh Pant’s cricket. The maturity of understanding conditions. Yes, batting wise, he will still continue to play the game. That’s exactly what you want because he’s a naturally attacking player and he can upset the bowler totally. That’s what he did. He didn’t score too many runs. He got 20 in about 10 deliveries at a SR of 200 but that is exactly what you want at that stage,” Gavaskar concluded his assessment.

In the game against Afghanistan, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were the stars of the show, taking India to a strong total of 181 runs in the first innings. India successfully defended the total, courtesy of Jasprit Bumrah who picked up 3 wickets for just 7 runs to derail the Afghan batting innings.

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