Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim heaped praise on India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant after the left-hander scored a majestic knock of 134 runs off 178 balls to help the visitors post 471 runs on the board. Karim also noted that Pant sometimes purposely gets beaten.
Pant didn’t have a great run in IPL 2025 while leading Lucknow Super Giants but he was seen at his best against England. The southpaw scored his seventh Test century and scored a dozen fours and half-a-dozen sixes. He also brought his hundred with a one-handed six against Shoaib Bashir.
Pant added a crucial alliance of 209 runs with his captain Shubman Gill, who scored a fine knock of 147 runs.
“How to describe his knock? He is an incredible player. His thought process is priceless. Since he has made his entry in Test cricket, he has made up his mind that he will go to the ground as an entertainer only, whether he is batting or wicketkeeping, that he has to make his own identity,” Saba Karim said on Sony Sports.
“If you watch this knock minutely, you realize many times that the defense is compulsory. At the start of his innings, his strike rate was very low. We see that very few times. It seems like it was on purpose, and then he would jump out and play big shots. At times, I feel he even gets beaten purposely so that the bowler feels he has bowled a good ball, and Ben Stokes gives him one more over,” he added.
Karim, the former selector, added he hasn’t seen anyone toy with bowlers the way Rishabh Pant does. Pant has always been unpredictable as a batter and he has savored great success in the red-ball version.
“I have not seen anyone toying with the bowlers like that in international cricket. He has a rare ability. We ignore a very important aspect. He has an extremely tight defense. You cannot play attacking shots in red-ball cricket if your defense is not tight,” he said.
“If you play attacking shots in that case, it is to survive because you aren’t sure about your defense. Rishabh Pant has shown repeatedly, whether it’s in Indian conditions or SENA countries, that his defense is close to the body and under the eye. He is fully competent technically, and that’s why he attacks whenever he wishes,” Saba observed.
England ended the second day’s play at 209-3, trailing India by 262 runs.
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