India’s captain Virat Kohli revealed that Rishabh Pant was not supposed to bat at No. 4 in the third T20I against South Africa in Bengaluru. He admitted to a “miscommunication” between Pant and Shreyas Iyer, saying the latter was slated to bat at No.4 if India were two down within the 10th over.
As it turned out, India were 63 for 2 in the eighth over when Shikhar Dhawan advanced down the pitch and carved left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi to extra-cover. However, Pant walked in ahead of Iyer, and Kohli put it down to a communication breakdown in the dugout.
“I think there was a miscommunication there,” Kohli said. “That’s what I understood afterwards. The batting coach [Vikram Rathour] had a word with both of them and there was a misunderstanding of who has to go [in] at what stage of the game. So, it was a bit funny afterwards because they both wanted to walk in. It would have been very funny if both had reached the pitch… three batsmen [would have been] in the field. Yeah, I think it was a miscommunication in the middle.
“We had it planned according to phases. So, after 10 overs we decided Rishabh would walk in. Before that Shreyas had to walk in. So, I think both of them got confused and didn’t realise who had to walk in at what stage of the game.”
There has been some debate over Pant’s batting position and shot selection in recent times. Coach Ravi Shastri was critical of Pant’s shot selection in the Caribbean and it came into the spotlight once again when he heaved a half-tracker straight into the lap of short fine leg against South Africa in Mohali.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar suggested that slotting Pant in at No. 5 would ease the pressure on him, helping him play his attacking, natural game.
“Giving him a bit of breathing space by slotting him at No. 5 could also help, for at that number he will invariably come in to bat where his aggressive batting is needed from the start rather than when he has to build his and the team’s innings,” Gavaskar wrote in Sunday Mid-Day. “Just like a little tweak in the grip can make a world of difference to a player as a bowler or as batsman, so also a little tweak in the batting order could change the fortunes of a player.”
After coming in at No. 4 on Sunday, Pant tiptoed to 12 off 17 balls before fiercely slog-sweeping seamer Dwaine Pretorius over the fine-leg boundary. He added just one to his tally before holing out to long-off against left-arm fingerspinner Bjorn Fortuin for 19 off 20 balls. Two balls later, Iyer was stumped off a leg-side wide for 5 off 8 balls. From 63 for 1 India lost 5 for 35 and eventually the game.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo