Ahead of the fifth Test against England, Sanjay Manjreakar, the former Indian cricketer in an exclusive interview with NDTV, opined on the player who can be an X-factor for India against England.
India will face England in the crucial and rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham on July 1. The contest will decide the fate of the series that unfortunately got postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
Indian team is currently leading the five-match series by 2-1 and even a draw would mean a fourth Test series victory in England.
Before this, India won three-Test series in the country in 1971, 1986, and 2007. This time it will be Rohit Sharma-led side to register another historic win in England.
Ahead of the fifth Test against England, Sanjay Manjreakar, the former Indian cricketer in an exclusive interview with NDTV, opined on the player who can be an X-factor for India against England.
“Rishabh Pant! I know Rohit Sharma is there at the top, there’s Virat Kohli and other great batters. Pujara’s defiance is there, there’s some good bowling in Shami and Bumrah. They will be game changes with the ball. But in his very short career test career Rishabh Pant has notched up three great Test innings and in different conditions, different oppositions. So you’re like Ben Stokes, if you’ve got to look at one player from India, you almost won India game, South Africa, as well, with that 100 that he got, Pant is the man. If England’s got Ben Stokes then India’s got Rishabh Pant,”
Manjrekar said.
The veteran cricketer who played 37 Test matches and 74 ODIs is confident that Rishabh Pant can make a lot of difference in the red-ball cricket despite being unable to perform in the T20Is.
“Yes, because the formats are different. And so far, we’ve seen that Rishabh Pant has been a formidable Test player. While he’s been putting together all the exceptional performances at the Test level, his white-ball batting has not been quite up there. So there’s a disconnection almost between his performance in white-ball cricket versus red-ball cricket,”
Manjrekar said.
“This is a guy who makes an impact playing Test cricket because he goes about things very differently. He’s not pushed to start hitting a straightaway. So there’ll be occasions where he will be playing or 20 dot balls and then hit three sixes depending on the condition, the bowler at the opposite end. So I think the Test format allows Rishabh Pant to be a little more imaginative and allows him to be not pushed, he can take his time and decide when he wants to hit and which moment to do it. So for the moment, it seems like the Test format provides the kind of setting that he seems to enjoy. Whatever happens in the white-ball format, I don’t see that having any bearing at all on his performances at the Test level. We’ve seen that in the last two-three years.”