Rishabh Pant brutally attacked by former Indian keeper following cerebral shot in Guwahati Test: ‘You are the captain’
Former Indian national cricket team wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim was quite disappointed to see the dismissal of stand-in skipper Rishabh Pant during the second Test against the South Africa national cricket team.
Saba Karim said that Rishabh Pant should have taken some responsibility as the team’s skipper, but instead he stepped down by playing a rash shot at the wrong time.
Rishabh Pant is under the scanner again for shot selection
Pant is the stand-in captain of the Indian team in the ongoing Guwahati Test against world Test champions South Africa. He took charge after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the match due to his neck injury.
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Rishabh Pant had a poor start to his Test captaincy career as the bowling spins did not work at all, and the Proteas piled up a huge score of 489 in the first innings, and in response, India were bowled out for 201.
Expectations were quite high from Rishabh Pant, but he failed miserably and managed 7 runs off 8 balls. On the second ball of the 38th over, Rishabh Pant suddenly charged down the track to smash a short Marco Jansen delivery for a boundary.
However, Pant failed to make a good connection with the ball and only managed to flick it back to keeper Verreynne.
Perhaps for the first time in his Test career, Rishabh Pant may not be able to explain this – Saba
Saba Karim was furious to see the way Rishabh Pant came out. He said there could be no explanation as to why Pant attempted such a move and lashed out at him, saying he should have taken some responsibility, being the senior professional in the playing XI.
“It doesn’t make any sense. How do you explain this? It’s very difficult. Maybe for the first time in his Test career, Rishabh Pant may not be able to explain this.
“It happened immediately after tea. You are the captain of the team, you have to take some responsibility. You have enough playing experience at this level. So, you lead by example. You lead by absorbing pressure and taking hits,” Saba Karim told ESPNCricinfo.
Everything that was missing in Rishabh Pant’s approach – Saba Karim
Saba Karim further backed Rishabh Pant to play his natural brand of cricket but urged him to be more responsible in the middle. The former Indian gloveman believes that Pant’s terrible shot selection pushed India far behind in the match, and they are unlikely to recover from it.
“All that was missing in Rishabh Pant’s approach. I can understand that you have to play your natural game, but you can do that by spending time at the crease.
“Playing such risky shots at this stage of the game pushes your entire team into a corner. Today, India finds itself in a very difficult position. It will be very difficult for them to get out of it,” Karim added.
Also Read: Parthiv Patel and Aakash Chopra deliver shocking verdicts on Rishabh Pant’s reckless hitting against South Africa
