Subscribe Now

* You will receive the latest news and updates on your favorite celebrities!

Trending News

Blog Post

BGT 2024-25: Why It’s Unfair to Blame Rishabh Pant for Team India’s Batting Failures
Editor's Pick

BGT 2024-25: Why It’s Unfair to Blame Rishabh Pant for Team India’s Batting Failures 

To the uninitiated, this might seem like a PR piece for Rishabh Pant. However, without dwelling on his life-threatening accident in December 2022, this article aims to demonstrate that compared to other specialist non-opening batters, the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman’s performance was largely consistent with his capabilities in Test cricket.

The Indian cricket fan is notoriously hard to please. You could be a T20 World Cup winner one day, but the next day you’re expected to perform at your peak in an entirely different format. Rishabh Pant exemplifies this predicament. With the famous quote “Toota hai Gabba ka Ghamand” etched in Indian cricket fans’ minds after his heroics in the series-deciding Brisbane Test in 2021, expectations were high for him to repeat his stupendous performance from his previous two Australian tours.

Photo Credit: ESPN cricinfo

However, Pant struggled to replicate his earlier success as a match-winner during this tour of Australia. Whether it was his poor shot selection at the MCG that contributed to batting collapses and ultimately led to India’s heavy defeat in the Boxing Day Test, or his overly cautious approach in the first innings at Sydney, he faced heavy criticism from all quarters.

Pant’s statistics reveal a mediocre series this time around in Australia. Here’s a comparison of his three tours:

Rishabh Pant Stats of BGT

Following the disappointing home whitewash against New Zealand, Indian cricket fans hoped that better batting tracks in Australia would help revive the form of specialist batters. However, success in the challenging Australian conditions proved to depend heavily on a batter’s ability to survive the new ball beyond the first 30-35 overs. This is where India’s top-order batting struggled, with the top four specialist batters unable to cope with these demanding conditions.

Photo Credit: ESPN Cricinfo

Pant, for his part, attempted to employ various techniques from his batting repertoire to not just survive the incisive Australian bowling but occasionally counter-attack. While his contribution might seem underwhelming in isolation, when compared to other specialist batters in the playing XI, his performance was marginally better than most.

A detailed analysis reveals that Pant demonstrated the defensive technique required to bat for extended periods – something other specialist batters like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli struggled with:

BGT 2024-25 Batting Stats

*Note: Analysis includes only players who participated in a minimum of three Test matches in the BGT 2024-25.

This statistical analysis demonstrates that among non-opening batsmen batting between positions 3-6, Pant faced the most deliveries and was second only to Nitish Kumar Reddy in runs scored. Reddy impressed everyone with his strokeplay, tenacity, and temperament.

However, the data clearly shows that it’s unfair to pin India’s poor series performance solely on Pant’s form, especially considering this was Australia’s first Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory in 10 years.

Previous

BGT 2024-25: Why It's Unfair to Blame Rishabh Pant for Team India's Batting Failures

Related posts

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *