Zaheer Khan urges Rishabh Pant to ‘find the balance’ in his batting and captaincy

In recent years, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been a consistent contributor to the Indian team across all the formats. Particularly in Test cricket, he has been lauded by the cricketing fraternity for his counter-attacking style to put the pressure back on the opposition bowlers. 

However, his form in 2022 has been a matter of concern for the selectors. Although the 24-year-old scored 340 runs in the recently concluded IPL, he could not finish games and failed to convert his starts into big scores. 

In the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, Pant has accumulated only 57 runs in four innings, which has put onus on Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik to provide a flourish at the end. 

Pant was also chosen as leader of the Indian team in this series due to the injury to KL Rahul. However, he has been criticized for his decisions, that have proven costly for the Indian team. That said, the Men in Blue have bounced back to level the series 2-2 with two important results on the bounce. 

Former Indian left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan feels Rishabh Pant has been out of the box with his thinking and depends decisively on his instincts. Zaheer reckons that the 24-year-old batter has to strike a right balance in his decisions, just like his batting. 

"When he scores runs, people talk about him. When he doesn't, people still talk about him. There’s a similar style of pattern in his captaincy. We have to give him time. He likes to think out of the box. He tries to follow his instincts far too much,” Zaheer Khan said to Cricbuzz. 

“He likes to take a lot of chances. He has to find that balance when he makes extreme decisions. It’s just like his batting."

Furthermore, the 43-year-old admitted that Pant is serious and passionate about the game, and thinks the wicket-keeper will gradually find his groove in the upcoming series/tournaments. 

"One thing that stands out about him is that he is very serious about his cricket. That no one can question. He is very passionate about the game. He wants to do things at a rapid pace. With time, he will get what he wants because he knows where he is headed," added Khan. 

India will clash with South Africa in the Final T20I of the series at Bengaluru on 19th June, with the series tied 2-2.