EXCLUSIVE
Follow UsA batting promotion for Rishabh Pant can help the Delhi Capitals skipper to express himself freely, according to former South African captain Graeme Smith.
Pant, who came in at No. 4 on Thursday against Lucknow Super Giants, was not at his fluent best scoring an unbeaten 36-ball 39 as DC managed 149/3 in 20 overs. They were unable to defend the total at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai as LSG chased it down with two balls remaining and six wickets in hand.
"Rishabh has got starts in every game, but everyone needs to be patient. The strike rate hasn’t quite happened but everyone needs to be patient. Today DC needed to rebuild after losing a couple of wickets but true, the strong finish never came. They needed to get to a total of 170-180," Smith said in Cricket.com's match review.
"Maybe the way forward is to promote Rishabh. Get him up to No.3 and take the pressure off him and give him more time. Maybe this way he’ll be able to set the tone and not think too much," he added.
Despite an indifferent start to the season, Smith felt that Pant is not in danger of losing a place in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup even though the other keepers Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have been performing well.
“I cant see Rishabh Pant missing out despite the likes of Samson, DK and Kishan doing well. Ultimately it will come down to combinations. Who gets picked will depend on the conditions, who they are coming up against. Pant has to be there. You can’t leave out Pant. He is going to play all formats for India for a very long time. He’s going to be a superstar," the former left-hander said.
Speaking about DC's poor show with the bat, Smith felt that there were no positives for the side besides opener Prithvi Shaw, who scored a quickfire 61 off 34 balls.
"It was a one man show (Prithvi Shaw). Sarfaraz and Pant had to recover from a couple of quick wickets. But in the end, it was only Prithvi Shaw that dominated the game from a DC perspective. After the powerplay, you thought they were on course for 200, but no one else got going. It was bizarre. Good night for Shaw individually, but Delhi would be disappointed. It was a disappointing batting performance,” he said.
Smith praised LSG, who do not boast of a bowling line-up full of stars but have useful players to get the job done.
"Every time you look at their team on paper, you think they’re going to struggle. But they’re actually playing well as a team," Smith said.
"Their bowling attack is not outstanding on paper, but they do their job; they function well in partnerships. They’re in the tournament now. Their confidence is up and they’re pushing the older IPL teams."
LSG brought in off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham for the match, which proved to be crucial as he dismissed Shaw after a dangerous start. He worked in tandem with Ravi Bishnoi (2-22) and Krunal Pandya (0-12 in 2 overs) to keep a check on DC's scoring through the middle overs.
"They made a bold decision to include Krishnappa Gowtham and it paid off. Their spinners tonight were brilliant. They were able to control the middle period. After the powerplay, you thought Delhi would run away with the game, but all of the bowlers from the middle to the death were outstanding. Each individual performed his role. Such a positive night for Lucknow,” Smith said.
Despite having a stronger team on paper with the return of David Warner and Anrich Nortje, DC were unable to do much with bat and the ball as they remained seventh in the table with two losses from three matches.
"It was disappointing from Delhi Capitals. You looked at their line-up and thought they were the better team on paper, but cricket is not played on paper," Smith said.
