Watch - Rishabh Pant irked by Virender Sehwag-linked question, 'comparison karna mere life ka part nahi'

Rishabh Pant is an interesting case but not a unique one. By nature and style, he should be taking attacks apart every time he walks out to bat in white-ball cricket but in reality, he does the same in Test cricket and not so much in T20Is and ODIs, at least that's what the numbers suggest. And he is not the first cricketer to go through this. The most prominent one in recent times was perhaps former India opener Virender Sehwag. Another name that comes to mind is Australia's David Warner, though he has a pretty good white-ball record, very few expected him to succeed in the longest format of the game. Pant and Sehwag are largely similar. The latter is considered to be one of India's best-ever Test openers after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar but his ODI and T20I records, compared to his Test numbers, were not as menacing. It's the same with Pant.

The dashing left-hander, who is the only Indian keeper-batter to have Test hundreds in England, Australia and South Africa, is often under pressure to keep his place in India's white-ball sides. In T20Is, it has been Dinesh Karthik in the last seven-eight months or so who has been keeping Pant away from the XI often while in ODIs, Sanju Samson breathes down his neck.

India vs New Zealand 3rd ODI live score

Ahead of the third and final ODI against New Zealand, Pant was questioned about his contrasting white and red ball records by renowned broadcaster Harsha Bhogle in the pre-match show on Prime Video. Surprisingly, the 25-year-old appeared to be a bit irritated.

Watch Video: Rishabh Pant not happy with Harsha Bhogle's question

Harsha Bhogle: "Maine Viru se bohut saal pahle ye sawal poocha tha, ab apse puch raha hu. Aapko dekhke lagta hai, white-ball game inki khaas baat hogi but aapka Test record sabse accha hai. (I had asked the same question to Sehwag, now I'll ask you. Looking at you, we get the feeling that white-ball cricket is your USP but it's your Test record that is better...)

Rishabh Pant: "Sir, record toh ek number hai. Mera white-ball record bhi kharab nahi hai. Thik hai T20 ka... (Sir, records are just numbers. My white-ball record is not bad either...)"

Harsha Bhogle (interrupting): "Main kharab nahi kar raha hu, comparison kar raha hu. (I'm not saying it's bad, I'm comparing it with the Test numbers)"

Rishabh Pant: "Comparison karna toh sir apne life ka part hi nahi hai na. Abhi main 24-25 years ka hu, comparison karna hai toh jab main 30-32 ka ho jayunga tab karna, usse pahle toh koi logic nahi hai mere liye. (Doing comparisons is not a part of my life. I'm 24-25, if you want to compare, you can do that when I am 30-32)."

In only 31 Tests, Pant has already played memorable Test knocks in Australia, England and South Africa - some of them going on to win India matches. He averages 43 and has a strike rate of 72 and is largely seen as someone who can change a Test match on its head in a couple of hours.

As Pant mentioned, his ODI numbers are certainly not bad. He averages 35 and has a strike rate of 107.54. He also scored an unbeaten century in England earlier this year to win India the match.

It's his T20I numbers, that are below par. The left-hander scores at a strike rate of 126 in his 66 T20Is. One of the main reasons for that could be the number he bats in. In T20Is, he often doesn't get enough balls to make an impact.

"I would choose to bat in the top order in T20Is, number 4-5 in ODIs and in Tests I'm batting at 5. Yes, the game plan changes when you're batting lower down the order but at the same time you have to bat where the team wants you to. There's no need to premeditate in ODIs, only in T20s you need to premeditate," Pant said.