With KL Rahul returning to the Indian line-up for the second game against West Indies replacing Ishan Kishan, the vice-captain was expected to open the innings with the skipper Rohit Sharma. However, the team management threw in a surprise as the wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant was promoted to the top of the order.
Pant took his time initially before hitting a couple of boundaries. His innings didn’t last long as he could score just 18 runs. While many commended the coach Rahul Dravid and the management for the move, calling it a positive step but some said that it could hamper Pant – the batsman.
Speaking on commentary during the game, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar talked about Team India’s thinking behind the decision. Gavaskar said that *it was an experiment and the team is doing that so that Pant could take an advantage of the field restrictions and go hard in the powerplay.
“I think the thinking behind it was the first 10 overs. It’s where India sometimes don’t score as many as they should be. So they could have sent Rishabh Pant so that he could take advantage of the field restrictions. This is an experiment. Make no mistake. If it works, it can be a template they would like to carry forward as they go on to the World Cup in India next year. It’s something that they would certainly look at,” Gavaskar said.
The 70-year old was also quick to question about Team India’s finisher. Gavaskar reckoned that the team wanted Pant to score some runs, that’s maybe he was given the full 50 overs to bat but unfortunately, it didn’t pay off.
“What is interesting is who is going to be the finisher? I was thinking that maybe they would be looking at Pant as they finisher where he has the license to throw his bat at just about every delivery that he gets to face. Maybe also I think that this move is to give him a sense of responsibility. We have often see him charge down the pitch first ball and get out. So maybe sending him up the order is a way to tell him… ‘listen, we expect runs from you’. So it’s like giving him a sense of responsibility,” said Gavaskar.
