Former India head coach Greg Chappell lavished praise on India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant following his twin centuries (134 and 118) in the Leeds Test recently.
Chappell compared Pant to former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist. “Rishabh reminds me very much of Adam Gilchrist. He’s just a different sort of player. It can make a huge difference to a team to have a wicketkeeper who can bat at that level and to score runs quickly. The beauty is Rishabh gets runs at a very fast rate which gives you time to win cricket matches. Some of the shots he played weren’t in the MCC playing manual,” said Chappell, while interacting via videoconferencing at the launch of str8bat at the Cricket Club of India on Wednesday.
Greg Chappell pic/GETTY IMAGES
India lost the Test by five wickets, but former Australia captain Chappell felt Pant almost won the game for the visitors with his bat. “You never know what to expect [from Pant]. At any stage, he can jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or play the falling ramp shot. He is a match-winner and almost made the difference in the last match,” added Chappell.
In his 44 Tests, Pant, 27, has scored 3,200 runs, including eight centuries of which six have come overseas.
