Srinagar: Former Australia captain and one of the greats of Cricket Greg Chappell has praised India’s Rishabh Pant, stating that the wicketkeeper batter is ‘reinventing the game’ with his unconventional style of batting.
Pant delivered a record-breaking performance in India’s five-wicket defeat against England at Headingley in Leeds as he scored centuries in both innings.
“The beauty of it (Pant’s batting) is that he gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. His was a phenomenal performance – some of the shots that he played probably weren’t in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it. He is reinventing the game as a batsman,” Chappell said.
“You know, modern technology – the bats are very different. Obviously, you can play shots that weren’t possible with the old bats. But man, he’s exciting to watch. You never quite know what to expect from the first ball at any stage. He’s likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers, or he’ll play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect, so it keeps the opposition on their toes,” he added.
Greg Chappell then went on to compare Rishabh Pant with legendary Australia wicketkeeper batter Adam Gilchrist, especially due to his ability to score runs at a fast pace.
“What an exciting cricketer, what a player to have on your team,” he said.
“When I first saw him, he was a different sort of player, of course, but he reminded me very much of Adam Gilchrist. You know the difference that it can make to a team to have a wicketkeeper that can bat at that level and score runs quickly.”