India’s wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been in the middle of a lot of backlash as his poor form with both bat and the gloves seems never-ending. To make matters worse, his DRS decisions often turn out wrong as well, with critics questioning how he can ever fill in the big void left behind by former skipper MS Dhoni.
The 21-year old, however, showed signs of what he is capable of in the recent ODI series against West Indies, where he played maturely and adapted his game according to the situation. But while he showed improvement with the bat, he was poor behind the wickets, and dropped as many as four catches in the third and final ODI that was played against the Windies at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Outgoing chief selector MSK Prasad, who earlier stated that Pant needs to train with a specialist wicket-keeping coach, stated that the Delhi player’s poor run with the bat was hampering his keeping as well.
“If you don’t keep well, it affects your batting. And if you don’t get runs, it affects your keeping. Whenever you are under pressure, you stiffen up. Your arms, shoulders, biceps, forearms – everything stiffens up. That’s when the ball starts popping out because of hard hands. When you are in a relaxed state of mind, the way you receive that ball is different to the way you collect when you are under pressure,” Chief selector of the BCCI MSK Prasad told Hindustan Times.
However, Prasad backed Pant to come good, as he is young and does have plenty of talent.
“See, he is young and is still a work-in-progress. But there is a lot of time ahead for him. Since he got in the Indian side at a young age, he hasn’t played much domestic cricket. That is also one of the reasons. I am sure he will come back strong. It’s also good that this has happened early in his career,” MSK Prasad added.
