MATCH STORIES
Follow UsThere is no need to change your number three batter when he is one of the all-time T20I greats and widely accepted as the best T20 batter born on Indian soil.
Even more than that, there is no need to replace him with a batter who has returned after a life-threatening injury and just had a decent outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL ) at best.
However, the moment Rohit Sharma saw Rishabh Pant being fit and hitting some runs in the IPL, he decided that Pant was coming to the World Cup in the US and Windies and would bat at number three in the batting order.
Reasons you ask? Well, they can’t get more pronounced.
Teams have used left arm and leg spin against the Indian top order multiple times and, more often than not, have succeeded. India needed a left-hander at the top who could do that.
Including Pant there ensured that they wouldn’t have to use an extra spot for a keeper, and they got a high strike rate batter at one down who could hit from the word go.
To Pant’s credit, not once has he made India question their decision. On a pitch that was underprepared and dangerous to bat on, Pant scored more runs than anyone else. Not only that, but his strike rate was the highest as well.
While he was in control of his shots only 61% of the time, he attacked every second ball he faced (attack % 54.5). It didn’t matter that the pitch played tricks and he wasn’t middling the ball. It didn’t matter that he was dangerously struck on his body. Pant came, Pant entertained, Pant scored, and India won.
What was helping him to do that was also the fact that he was targeting areas of the ground that weren’t accessed by any other Indian batter this tournament. His sweeps (reverse, slog and paddle) allowed him to score 53% of his runs behind the wicket. He might have been dismissed twice while playing the reverse sweep, but he’s one of the few batters in the Indian batting lineup who actually plays that shot well.
Just by virtue of that, the opposition offers him free real estate in front of the wicket by placing an extra fielder behind the wicket for his reverse shots.
His impact was most visible when India faced Afghanistan in their first Super Eight contest at Barbados. He came in to bat when India were 11/1 after 17 deliveries in the game. In the last over of the powerplay, he scored three consecutive fours against Mohammad Nabi’s off-spin — his unfavourable matchup!
The first one was a reverse sweep. The second was a slog sweep, and the third was a loft over extra cover for a four, as there was no fielder in the deep. He helped take the score to 54/2 when he departed on the 42nd ball of the innings.
Against Bangladesh today (June 22), he targeted Mustafizur Rahman. Before this game, only Travis Head was able to target him and score more than 10 runs. Pant smacked 14 runs in his single over, including a six that came on a well-disguised slower delivery. However, Pant timed it off really well.
To Rahul Dravid and Rohit’s credit, replacing Suryakumar in the batting order takes guts. However, to Pant’s credit, it takes chutzpah of the highest grade to come in adverse conditions and still make that spot his own.
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