Sri Lanka tour of India

[Sherlock Holmes]

Pant's century in South Africa was one of the best I've seen. I'd love to have him for England as a batter, keeper or both.

like you guys already don't have any explosive keeper-batsmen in the circuit.
Buttler. Bairstow. Billings. Banton.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Sanju keeps well, lets not forget that.

You do fail to notice that Pant have improved by miles as a keeper, don't you? Tbh I don't see much of difference in their keeping abilites but because Pant bats better plus he is a left hander he gets more opportunities. As a batsman, Sanju doesn't cut it out at International level. Kishan is definitely a better keeper than Pant but batting again, both are equal. Infact Pant can do better in the middle order (this is what India requires atm).

Pant's reading of the game situation is awful. He tends to go for shots when it spikes up in his mind. He misreads the situation often.

It is more of a management problem. He has a way to play his game and the team management should know how to use him. If they would consistently make him do something which he is not made up for then he would continue to struggle. In an ideal scenario you give him a platform to explode in the last 15-20 overs (last 6-7 overs in T20s) or at a stage where the run-rate is terribly down. In chases, he must only play when the run-rate looks out of reach or when we are looking to finish.

Also Sanju have not shown enough maturity even in domestic Cricket/ IPL for many years now. Sure he has a very good technique but he too lacks gameplan. The only reason why he is there is because Pant is rested while KLR isn't available.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

like you guys already don't have any explosive keeper-batsmen in the circuit.
Buttler. Bairstow. Billings. Banton.

We do

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Let's bring back Parthiv Patel

 

[icyman]

Pant's century in South Africa was one of the best I've seen. I'd love to have him for England as a batter, keeper or both.

Cause England has a pretty strong middle order. Pant's stupid shot selection can make/break a game. But England have the luxury of good lower order batsmen who can take charge, just in case.

It is more of a management problem. He has a way to play his game and the team management should know how to use him. If they would consistently make him do something which he is not made up for then he would continue to struggle. In an ideal scenario you give him a platform to explode in the last 15-20 overs (last 6-7 overs in T20s) or at a stage where the run-rate is terribly down. In chases, he must only play when the run-rate looks out of reach or when we are looking to finish

How is it a management problem??? If you've just lost 2 wickets, Pant needs to settle down, stabilise the score and then go for shots. Rahul Dravid isnt going to run up to him and tell him what to do.

You can take a horse to the pond, but cannot force it to drink/not drink.

In international cricket, you do not have the luxury of choosing match situations. If Pant can play in only one-dimension then either he needs to be versatile /has to go.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

In international cricket, you do not have the luxury of choosing match situations. If Pant can play in only one-dimension then either he needs to be versatile /has to go.

You don't have the luxury I agree. But you have something called role clarity. Pant is a finisher and not an accumulator. You cannot expect him to do what players like Iyer/Kohli/Rohit do. I don't understand either you have something against Pant or you are obsessed with Sanju Samson but both are wrong places to go.

 

[icyman]

Having role clarity is good. But one needs to know when to go for shots instead of aimlessly launching aerial attacks all around.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Having role clarity is good. But one needs to know when to go for shots instead of aimlessly launching aerial attacks all around.

That's some valuable advice for Sanju Samson.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Having role clarity is good. But one needs to know when to go for shots instead of aimlessly launching aerial attacks all around.

You gain that with experience. It's not like Pant have played a decade of Cricket that his instinct would always come off. I think this is the problem, we always look for results that should suit our need as audience but it's a totally different thing to execute. At one point we look for someone who scores at a good rate and we blame our archaic approach in limited overs Cricket and when someone actually tries to enforce the scoring we blame them for not being consistent enough.

Let us not forget that there was an axe hanging on Pant's head under the leadership of the previous Captain and coach and finally he has realised his true potential as a player. I see no point in evaluating Rishabh Pant after the hundred that he scored in Cape Town followed by his performance in couple of matches in ODIs out of the 6 played this year. I think Pant has already nailed his spot across formats so no point in discussing whether he must be there or should he go.

 

[icyman]

That's some valuable advice for Sanju Samson.

I'd say thats valuable advice for anyone in the Indian team. Prolonged failures on this front isn't something that Dravid might tolerate in the longer run. If Samson get chances in the near future,am sure he will be judged on this as well. Whosoever comes out on tops, trumps. Its as simple as that.

You gain that with experience. It's not like Pant have played a decade of Cricket that his instinct would always come off. I think this is the problem, we always look for results that should suit our need as audience but it's a totally different thing to execute. At one point we look for someone who scores at a good rate and we blame our archaic approach in limited overs Cricket and when someone actually tries to enforce the scoring we blame them for not being consistent enough.

Again, the main concern with Pant is about game/situation awareness. The scoring rate has never been a doubt. What he needs to do is to reign in that aggresive intent based on the situation. If Pant can only play in this manner, then it will become a cause of concern in future. Who knows, we may have someone else with greater match awareness and attacking mentality. That person may fit our bill perfectly.

Furthermore, I do not think there's a difference in us and Rahul Dravid viewing the game at 30/5 (chasing 200) with no frontline batsmen to come. In such a situation, Pant needs to stabilize and then go for shots.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Let us just accept that atm there's no better player than Pant to play his role. For the time being there should be no questions raised on him. Future I don't know but at present he makes the Indian team on all accounts.

 

[icyman]

I'd still disagree on this! Don't think we are going to get anywhere on this topic as you aren't willing to accept that shot selection is the game-changer here. Anyway, lets see how the others fare.

 

[harishankar]

While Pant’s shot selection frustrates quite a few fans including myself, I am more worried about his close in keeping which he needs to improve especially in the longer format.

As far as his batting goes I’m willing to concede a few low scores in exchange for his ability to make a big impact and win matches, at least for a while.

 

[Velocity]

Rishabh Pant is one of those X-factor players that can make a big impact on games and he's proven it. In fact out of Kishan, Pant and Samson, Pant has proven his potential the most on the international stage. That too, he's still young and he's only going to get better the more games he plays. He's played some pretty good knocks of late too, a 56 coming in at 42/3 vs WI and that 100 against SA a month ago which gave something India to defend in that deciding Test. Doesn't make any sense to propose a change in wicketkeeper if he's being consistent as of late. Unless his form severely dips in the next six months or so, he should be the No 1 wicketkeeper for India.

Kishan and Samson have been in that pool of inconsistency too, Samson for years went ham at the beginning of an IPL to taper off two matches in, barring that consistent IPL last season. Kishan was bang average last IPL. At best currently, they should be the limited overs backups. Their current form doesn't warrant a promotion to being the first choice keeper.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Rohit Sharma
Ishan Kishan
Sanju Samson (hope he doesn't disappoint)
Shreyas Iyer (would be good to see him back at 4)
Deepak Hooda
Venkatesh Iyer
Ravindra Jadeja
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Yuzvendra Chahal
Harshal Patel
Jasprit Bumrah

Has to be an ideal combination for us tonight!