Harbhajan Singh on Rishabh Pant: The Indian off-spinner called for the rookie wicket-keeper to play for India in ODIs.
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Veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has demanded for the selectors to include wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant in the ODI squad. Harbhajan isn’t the first cricketer to express such an opinion for the 21-year old cricketer.
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Earlier, former India captain Sourav Ganguly had opined on similar lines saying that Pant can change the game in five overs. With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 coming up, whether India will make such a change remains the big question.
The 38-year old cricketer threw accolades on Pant for his X-factor and even compared him to former Australia wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.
“Rishabh Pant has that X-factor in him, which Adam Gilchrist had. He has the potential to hit six sixes…I am not talking about six sixes in an over but if he plays 30 balls he has the ability to hit at least six sixes, which can be game-changing,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying on India Today.
He went on to say that Pant’s inclusion might fix India’s middle-order issues. “I think Rishabh Pant is a must in the Indian team because if we lose three early wickets, we need to have a power-hitter lower down the order. I think his inclusion will not only strengthen India’s batting line-up but also fix the middle-order issues,” he said.
In the recently concluded Test series against Australia, Pant scored his second Test century at Sydney. Having scored the first one at The Oval, Pant became only the second visiting wicket-keeper batsman (after Jeff Dujon) to score a Test century in England and Australia.
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Finishing the series as its second-highest run-scorer (above India captain Virat Kohli), Pant pressed his case for being included into the ODI side. It will be interesting to see if the selectors will include him for the upcoming home series against Australia.
