England vs India: Unexpected but brilliant decision to open with Rishabh Pant in 2nd T20I, says Sanjay Manjrekar
India Today
ENG vs IND, 2nd T20I: Rishabh Pant opened the batting for the Indian team along with Rohit Sharma and scored 25 runs before getting out to Richard Gleeson.
Former batter Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Team India for sending Rishabh Pant to open the batting in the second T20I on Saturday, July 9 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. On Saturday, July 9, Pant came to bat as an opener and scored a quick-fire 15-ball 26 with the help of four fours and one six.
The southpaw also shared an important 49-run stand for the opening wicket along with skipper Rohit Sharma. It was fast bowler Richard Gleeson, who got rid of the batter in the seventh over of the Indian innings.
Manjrekar reckoned that if the left-hander Pant goes up to open the batting on a regular basis, it will give the middle-order batters some sort of a breather.
He took to Twitter and wrote, “Unexpected but brilliant decision to open with Pant! Throws up exciting possibilities. Also more breathing space for batters fighting for middle-order spots.”
Unexpected but brilliant decision to open with Pant!Throws up exciting possibilities. Also more breathing space for batters fighting for middle order spots.
Back in the T20I series against South Africa where he was the skipper, Pant failed to get going in the middle-order and faced criticism for the same.
