After team India lost the rescheduled 5th Test against England, the focus has now shifted to white-ball cricket. While team India failed to perform to their potential in the second inning, there are few positives that they can take from the Test. One of them is certainly the batting of Rishabh Pant who has been phenomenal in the longest format ever since he made his debut. After Pant’s performance, Sunil Gavaskar comes up with an interesting change in Indian batting line-up.
Sunil Gavaskar comes up with an interesting suggestion
While Pant has given scintillating performances in Test cricket, his form in One-Day internationals and T20s has not been up to the mark. The batsman who thrives on challenges in Test cricket has not been able to replicate the same in the shorter formats. Considering his struggle in T20Is, Sunil Gavaskar suggests the Indian team to change their batting order so Pant can have a better performance in ODIs and T20Is.
Sunil Gavaskar feels that it will not be a bad option if Pant opens for team India in white-ball cricket. Citing the example of the Australian great Adam Gilchrist, Gavaskar opined that Pant can do the demolishing act up the order just like Gilchrist did for Australia. Pant has always played his natural game in Test cricket and has been extremely successful in his short career in Tests. Even in the recently concluded game, Pant scored the century with a strike rate of over 100.
“Not a bad option at all. Look at what Adam Gilchrist did for Australia in white-ball cricket. He used to bat at No.6 or 7 in Test cricket but while opening in white-ball cricket he was destructive. Maybe someone like Rishabh Pant can be equally destructive, and he will get that many more over to play,” said Sunil Gavaskar while talking to Sports Today.
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Team India will play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs against England and the first game of the T20 series will be played today in Southampton. The match will start at 10:30pm IST. The Indian team would like to sort out their team combination as part of their World Cup preparation and bounce back from the loss in the Test match which meant that the series ended in a draw.