Sunil Gavaskar feels Rishabh Pant should open for India in white-ball cricket: Look at what Gilchrist did
India Today
England vs India: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Rishabh Pant should open for India in the white-ball format. Gavaskar applauded Pant's recent heroics against England in the longest format.
India legend Sunil Gavaskar reckons India would benefit from sending Rishabh Pant in as an opener in white-ball cricket, as opposed to the finisher role that he has been given so far in his career. Gavaskar suggested Pant should be promoted to the top of the batting order in the limited-overs format, much like Australia did with Gilchrist, who used to bat much lower down the order in Tests.
Pant was the star performer with the bat for Team India in the 5th Test, where he smashed a century in the first innings and followed that with another half-century in the second innings. However, Pant has been unable to translate his Test heroics into the shortest format of the game, having managed just 723 runs in 46 matches at an average of less than 24 and having scored just 3 fifties. Pant averages just 32.50 in ODIs and 23.15 in T20Is in comparison to 43.32 in red-ball cricket.
"Not a bad option at all. Look at what Adam Gilchrist did for Australia in white-ball cricket. He used to bat at No.6 or 7 in Test cricket but while opening in white-ball cricket he was destructive. Maybe someone like Rishabh Pant can be equally destructive, he will get that many more overs to play," Gavaskar told Sports Today.
"We have been talking about him as a finisher but then he comes in there, starts slamming the ball and straight away gets out. Here, he will have the awareness that he doesn't have to go bang bang from the first ball. He will have a few deliveries to get used to the pace and movement. In England, there will be a little more movement even with the white ball than anywhere else. That can actually work in India's favour," Gavaskar added.