Rishabh Pant | file photo
In an exclusive interview with India TV, Raju Sharma, who coached Rishabh Pant in his early days, and is also a coach at Sehwag Cricket Academy, talks about Rishabh Pant as a batsman and captain, in which Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh were included. Performance in 1st T20 vs South Africa and much more.
interview excerpts
On the captaincy of Rishabh Pant
Pant is new to the captaincy. play IPL International cricket is different. You need to lead from the front at this stage. He will mature slowly. But again Kotla’s wicket got better as the match progressed.
Rishabh Pant’s batting
Pant was out on the wrong stage, should have stayed till the end. You can’t be Dhoni so soon. He should be playing value shots and not just looking to hit him powerfully. Such a shot shows his immaturity.
If Rishabh Pant can be seen as the next captain
The keeper is the best captain in my opinion. Pant will mature slowly. He will need to be a lot more responsible. If someone else gets his place, it will be difficult for him to come back. But this is his first match, he has captained well in IPL, just give him a few more matches, and then we will see.
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer played well. But they should have changed it to fifty. He should have stayed, should not have left the team midway.
on David Miller
– The only difference between David Miller and Pant or Iyer is their maturity and the way they have finished the game. This is international cricket and you need to play with maturity to be successful.
On the teams preparing for Harshal Patel
Patel has done well in IPL. Everyone has seen him perform. So, he has done his homework. He used the crease very well against Harshal.
bowlers having a bad day
He was bowling safely. He needs to bowl all sick balls with conviction. Only then can they be successful on flat tracks.
India’s batting
Rabada gave a lot yesterday, and Nortje did the same. We hit them and we were great. But looking at Kotla, the target should have been around 230-250.
On Rituraj Gaikwadi
He did well in IPL, scored 23 runs yesterday but could not score runs. Again, once you get to 20-25, you should stop and make it bigger.
On Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh
Look, Umran should be given a chance, he is young and should be dropped. Both Umran and Arshdeep should be given a chance and the bowlers should be rotated to build bench strength.