Scrappy Rishabh Pant a concern for India?

The fact that Rishabh Pant roared back to form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 solved many issues. For Delhi Capitals (DC), they had their captain back and among the runs. For India, that sorted a minor issue of having a left-handed batter in their middle-order, who could also keep wickets, and as a result, has found a place in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad.

Overall, Pant’s stats this season – 446 runs at a strike rate of 155.40 – does not look all that bad. Even behind the wickets, he has been sharp, be it with his catching or his stumping, which is a massive boost for DC and India. But what could have been an excellent season has now turned out to be an okayish one. 

In three of his last four innings, he came in at a time when the platform was set. It was perfectly set up for Pant to play a typical Pant-like knock and put his side in pole position.

In DC’s final game of the season against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he came in in the ninth over with DC comfortably placed at 94/2. 

Pant had a well-set Abishek Porel with him. All he had to do was give the young batter as much strike as possible, but knowing Pant’s abilities, he could have very well matched him shot for shot, but that was not the case on this occasion.

Shai Hope and Porel were finding the fence on regular intervals, but when Pant walked in, the boundaries dried up. In fact, there was no boundary for 26 deliveries since he came on to bat, and along the way, Porel, too, was dismissed after managing just eight runs more from his final 12 deliveries. 

Pant will be expected to bat at either five or six at the T20 World Cup. His role would be to build on the momentum or, if needed, support a well-set batter at the other end. Tonight (May 14) in Delhi, he did neither. In fact, he has failed to do that in the last four innings.

His unbeaten 88 against Gujarat Titans (GT), coming in at five, in Delhi on April 24, showed the world the array of shots at his disposal. 10 of his 13 boundaries (4s + 6s) were on the leg-side, with all of them coming in the fine-leg area or in the chunk between long-on and mid-wicket.

However, LSG had smartly blocked off those areas, making it tough for Pant to target his preferred regions. They had fielders stationed in the fine-leg and long-leg region, and the bowlers, playing their part too bowled on lengths that would not make stroke-making easy for Pant. Those were incidentally the smallest boundaries and Pant was looking to clear them, but some tight bowling did not allow him to clear them.

We are accustomed to seeing Pant’s bottom hand come off the bat on a lot of occasions. On Tuesday, it was frustrating. He was looking to hit in the same area, behind the square, and almost every time he attempted to do it, he was not in full control and, at times, also lost his shape and balance.

Following the win over MI, DC still had their fate in their hands as far as their playoff aspirations go. However, they went on to lose two of their next three games, with Pant playing very little role. Even with a win over LSG, they are still dependent on other fixtures, which sums up yet another lukewarm season for DC.

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