Gavaskar picks India’s No. 6 for Tests: Former Indian captain wants the team management to bat Rishabh Pant at No. 6 in Tests.
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Sunil Gavaskar, former India captain and the first batsman to cross the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket, has named a new candidate altogether to bat at No. 6 for India in Test matches.
While there has been a confusion regarding picking one out of Rohit Sharma or Hanuma Vihari, Gavaskar’s opinion had put forward a different perspective altogether. Speaking on India TV, Gavaskar opined that Pant at No. 6 will provide the best balance to the team.
ALSO READ: Sourav Ganguly wants the selectors to include Rishabh Pant in ODI squad.
“If at all, you’re looking at balancing the team out, then you have got to have Pant batting at No. 6. Every single game, he has contributed 30s and 40s. In Sydney, he scored a 159.
“Before that, he has consistently got starts, which makes him a very useful batsman to have at No. 6. The more responsibility you give him at No. 6, he will convert a lot of those 30s and 40s into 100s,” Gavaskar told India Today.
ALSO READ: Rishabh Pant might get included in the annually contracted players’ list.
The fact that Pant has scored more runs than India captain Virat Kohli in the ongoing series speaks highly about the influence which he has had. In seven innings, Pant has scored 350 runs at an average of 58.33 and a strike rate of 73.99.
His stellar knock in the ongoing match at Sydney saw him becoming only the second visiting wicket-keeper batsman (after Jeff Dujon) to score a Test century each in England and Australia. Having scored two overseas centuries at No. 7 in nine matches puts him ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who never scored an overseas century across formats.
Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on Pant below:
