NEWS
Follow UsThe wicketkeeper-batsman from Tamil Nadu, Dinesh Karthik heaped heavy praise on his fellow stumper Rishabh Pant, saying the 23-year-old will play 100 Tests and help Indian cricket to reach "greater heights". Pant has been in outstanding form of late. We all know what he did in Australia, and was also amongst runs in the home series against England.
"I think, in the short while that Rishabh Pant has been around, he has put up some fabulous performances, he has played in some real high-pressure games. Be it the World Cup final, be it the IPL final and the beauty is he has done well in a lot of these games, personally. I think he is someone who is always up for the challenge, in the IPL final he got a fifty," Karthik told Sports Today.
"I remember, a couple of years ago, he won a game single-handedly for Delhi Capitals, I think it was the eliminator. In these crunch games, he has always found ways to get runs. That shows his ability to handle pressure. He really thrives under pressure. He played some fabulous innings for India in the last couple of series against Australia and England.
"I have no doubt that he will be an integral part of Indian cricket and be one of those who is going to play 100 Tests And a lot of white-ball cricket for India as well."
It's not just Test cricket, Pant has now started playing all three formats for India. The swashbuckling left-hander even led Delhi Capitals in the first half of IPL 2021 and is currently in England for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. He will then also be involved in a five-Test series against England in August-September.
"He has got a terrific head on his shoulders. I think with the limited technical skill he has; he gets a lot of runs. He optimises, he instills fear in the opposition because of the audacious shots he plays and they end up spreading the field but still he ends up scoring runs, be it the red-ball or white-ball format," said Karthik, who too is in England to work as a pundit and commentator for Sky Sports.
"He is a very special player. He is somebody who is going constantly help Indian cricket move on to greater heights."