After a commanding performance on the fourth day of the series opener against Bangladesh, Team India is poised to score the first run in the two-match Test series. Rishabh Pant bowled quite well from behind the stumps as the visitors’ bowlers were doing their thing. Veteran Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik compared Pant to former Indian captain MS Dhoni in order to emphasise the influence the latter had on the former.
On a slow-turning track in Chattogram, India’s dynamic wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, whose play has recently come under scrutiny, performed a masterclass in wicketkeeping. The southpaw was on hand to finish a clean stumping of his opposing number and collected a stunning reflex catch to give India their first wicket in the fourth innings.
In his analysis of the dismissal of the Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter, veteran Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik lauded Pant for anticipating the delivery and acting quickly to complete the dismissal. “He idolizes MS Dhoni and Dhoni would be really proud of the way he did that stumping. The beauty about it is, when the ball is pitched closer, it can be hard to react faster. You get the feeling that the batsman is going to play the shot. But Pant was ready for the ball to miss the bat, and he was already bringing his hand towards the stump. That’s why it was done at such a quick speed,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
Karthik gave MS Dhoni, a former Indian captain and master of wicketkeeping, credit for his influence on the young southpaw. The 37-year-old believes Pant, who idolises the legendary former Indian captain, was influenced by Dhoni’s lightning-quick glove performance from behind the wickets. The RCB player believed that in order to improve their wicketkeeping abilities, wicketkeepers should learn the art of anticipation.
“As a wicketkeeper, your action is to receive the ball whereas in this case, and why Dhoni was also special, he started predicting when he saw the ball. There was a chance that the ball was getting beaten, and they started bringing their hand the other way. That’s why Rishabh Pant idolized MS Dhoni… because he enjoys him as a personality, and these are things he has learned spending time with MS. This is one such skill keepers need to keep developing,” Karthik added.