At a time when Rishabh Pant has been earning rich praises from past and former cricketers for his batting heroics across formats, ex-Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has blasted the India star for his weight.

Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that Rishabh Pant is a little overweight for his age and he must shed some kilos to become a Team India superstar in the following months.

“He has the cut shot, pull shot, reverse sweep.. he isn't afraid. He won the match in Australia, he won the match here (in England) and took India to a series victory,” Shoaib Akhtar said on his official YouTube channel.

“He is a little overweight. I hope he takes care of that. Because India's market is big. He's good-looking. He can emerge as a model, earn in crores (millions). Because whenever a person becomes a star in India, a lot of investment is made on them,” Shoaib Akhtar added.

“The talent he has, he will put oppositions in a lot of trouble. Against England, he adopted a calculated approach while pacing the innings, and then turn ruthless. He can accelerate whenever he want. In times to come, Rishabh Pant is going to be a superstar. The only one can who can stop him is Pant himself,” Shoaib Akhtar explained.

Shoaib Akhtar's views about Rishabh Pant's weight have come out of the blue as he is regarded as one of the fittest cricketers in the Indian team.

Probably Rishabh Pant's 5 feet 7-inch frame gives the impression that he is overweight, and Shoaib Akhtar seems to have fallen for that.

Earlier, Rishabh Pant slammed his maiden ODI century as Rohit Sharma and company went on to register a five-wicket victory over world champions England in Manchester on Sunday.

With their victory, Team India also secured the series 2-1, having won the first and last matches in London and Old Trafford.

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 as he smashed a scintillating 125* against the Jos Buttler-led side during the weekend.

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.

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, bringing 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.

Before his series-defining knock at Old Trafford, Rishabh Pant broke a 72-year-old record in India's loss in the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston.

With his scores of 146 and 57 there, Rishabh Pant now holds the record for most runs scored by a visiting team wicketkeeper in a single Test match.

Previously, the record was held by West Indies great Clyde Walcott who had made 14 and 168* in a Test against England at Lord’s in 1950.

Going past Clyde Walcott wasn't the only milestone that Rishabh Pant achieved in that Test match.

With his 89-ball century in the first innings, Rishabh Pant surpassed the legendary MS Dhoni to become the fastest India wicketkeeper batter to reach the three-figure mark in Test cricket. Dhoni took 93 balls to complete his ton in 2005.

Rishabh Pant will return to action in India's five-match T20I series against West Indies in the Caribbean later this month after being rested from the ODI leg of the tour.