After a brilliant tour of Australia earlier this year with the bat, it was much expected from Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant on the tour of England 2021. However, he failed to contribute to the team and has also been not able to score at least 100 runs in all the 5 innings combined he batted so far on this tour!
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| Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant (Image Credits: DNA India) |
Surprisingly, he was dismissed by Ollie Robinson on four out of five occasions in the series so far. On three of those instances, he was dismissed by the deliveries which were angled across and he could have left them alone instead he nicked them and was caught in the slip cordon! He could have left deliveries alone but he was pushing at them to find ways to get himself out in this Test series!
Pant's new batting stance in England:
Compared to the Kookaburra ball in Australia, the Dukes' ball in England swings a lot prompting batters to make changes to their batting stance. To counter this swing movement in the air, Pant was standing way outside the crease so far in this series. By doing this, the ball takes minimum time to reach the batter resulting in less swing in the air. However, Pant was poking at the deliveries because of standing way outside the crease which he could have left alone if he was standing inside/on the crease.
His new stance in this England tour might have tempted him to poke at the leaving deliveries and lose his wicket. Shockingly, he scored just 87 runs in 5 innings at an average of 17.40. For the record, Indian all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja (133 runs) who is also a left-handed batter, scored more runs than Pant so far in this series.
What are the options for India if Pant is dropped?
India, if at all thinks of dropping Pant for the fourth Test match, have two other wicket-keeping options in their squad - the in-form opener KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha. The Adelaide Test match in Australia in which India were bowled out for just 36 runs was Saha's last appearance for India in Test cricket!
Going by this stat, it would be better for India to make Rahul keep wickets and take another batter in place of out-of-form Pant. If Rahul is made keeper, Hanuma Vihari can be picked who played his only Test in England at The Oval in 2018 and scored a half-century in the first innings and a Duck in the second innings besides his 3 wickets in the match!
Pant's heroics at The Oval in 2018:
Rishabh Pant has already played 7 Test matches in England and has registered only one 50+ score thus far. He converted that 50+ score into a hundred which came at The Oval. Yes, at the same venue where the fourth Test match in this series will be played beginning on Thursday (Sep 02). He scored 16 fours and 4 sixes in that innings which gave India hope of winning the match but they lost in the end!
Barring this century knock at The Oval, Pant averages just 15 with the bat in 12 innings in Tests played in England! For a player of his stature, these are just meager figures! However, Pant's heroics at The Oval in the past might prompt India to retain him for at least one more Test match on this tour! If things do go south at The Oval for India, we might get a chance to see a new keeper in the fifth Test match!
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