India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant has been earning rave reviews from former cricketers for his scintillating performances with the bat of late. Many past players have tipped him to take over the captaincy of the Indian cricket team once current regular captain Rohit Sharma decides to step down from his post. Former India batter Arun Lal has joined the chorus as he backed the left-hander to fulfill the responsibility of leading the national team like his mentor and ex-India captain MS Dhoni did during his illustrious career.
Arun Lal had no qualms in saying that Rishabh Pant was captaincy material. As the southpaw was just 24, he had a long career ahead of him, and keeping in mind that he plays all three formats of the game, he should be an automatic choice for India captaincy in the future.
Last month, Rishabh Pant had his first stint as India skipper when he led the Men in Blue in the five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. Previously, he captained the Delhi Ranji team and is currently the captain of the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Yes, absolutely (On being asked if Rishabh Pant is the future captain after Rohit Sharma),” Arun Lal told Jagran TV.
“I always feel that the captain must deserve his place among the top three in the team. He (Pant) is someone who is not afraid to play his game, can handle pressure well, can take the team out of tough situations and such a player can be a great leader. It will be good for Indian cricket if we can have an aggressive player like Pant as captain of the side,” Arun Lal added.
Rishabh Pant smashed a defiant hundred against England in the third ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester, leading the Rohit Sharma-led side to a 2-1 series triumph over the Three Lions on Sunday.
Rishabh Pant arrived at the crease with India in trouble at 21/2 after losing both their openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan inside the first five overs after Hardik Pandya (4/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/60) helped the visitors bowl out England for 259 in 45.5 overs.
The Indians were then reduced to 72/4 with Virat Kohli perishing for 17 and Suryakumar Yadav departing for 16 by the time English bowlers delivered their 17 over.
Despite wickets falling around him, Rishabh Pant remained unperturbed and took a cautious approach at the start of the innings to get accustomed to the pace of the wicket. However, once he found his footing on the pitch, there was no looking back for Rishabh Pant.
The Uttarakhand-born dasher’s resurrection act came in tandem with Hardik Pandya who hit a scintillating 71 off 55 deliveries in a 133-run partnership which brought India back in the match.
After Hardik Pandya’s dismissal, Rishabh Pant upped the ante as he brought up his hundred off 106 balls, also his maiden one in the 50-over format in Manchester.
India eventually went on to achieve the target in 42.1 overs with Rishabh Pant remaining unbeaten on 125 off 113 balls, including 16 fours and two sixes.
En route to his knock of 125 not out, Rishabh Pant broke a clutch of records, including MS Dhoni’s record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper-batter in a successful run-chase in SENA countries.
MS Dhoni remained unbeaten on 87 in a 50-over game against Australia in 2019 to guide India to their maiden bilateral series triumph Down Under. Rishabh Pant, however, broke that record with a fair margin.
With his match-winning three-figure score, Rishabh Pant became just the third Indian wicketkeeper to make a hundred while chasing a target in ODIs. In 2005, MS Dhoni tore apart the Sri Lankan bowling line-up to cruise through to an unbeaten 183 while Rahul Dravid occupied the third position in the list with his 109 not out against West Indies in 2002.
Notably, it was his maiden hundred in white-ball cricket. But Arun Lal feels that he has now broken the threshold, Rishabh Pant will continue to do well in limited-overs cricket as well.
“If Pant can play consistently, he will be a hero for the Indian team. If you play well in red-ball format, there are chances that you will do well in white-ball format too with a little bit of adjustment. However, it’s not necessary that if you play well in the white-ball format, you will be able to perform the same way in the red-ball format because in Test cricket, you need a different set of skills, the ability to handle different kind of pressure, physical fitness to sustain five-day cricket. I have seen Rishabh Pant changing the tides both in Tests and limited-overs formats. It is not about scoring centuries, but a century that comes under difficult circumstances and helps to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat,” Arun Lal explained.
“Slamming a hundred at 50 for 5 is more special than scoring a hundred at 500 for 4. These knocks help you stand out. Rishabh Pant is unparalleled,” Arun Lal concluded.
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