'He can single-handedly take the game away from opposition’, Rahane hails youngster ahead of England Tests

After a series of failures with the bat across formats, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant found himself among runs in the last two Tests against Australia. Although he missed out on his century by 3 runs in Sydney, he finished the game in style in Brisbane and guided India to a historic 3-wicket victory.

The improvement in Rishabh’s game was evident in the Test series Down Under. Innings after innings he sharpened his skills and ended the tour with a knock to remember. His unbeaten 89-run knock in the 2nd innings in the Brisbane Test was enough to prove why he has been getting backed by the team management.

Speaking of his batting show at The Gabba, Ajinkya Rahane, who led India to 2-1 series win against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, stated that Pant has the ability to take the game away from the opposition singlehandedly and all he needs to back his natural game.

“I guess he is very well aware of his game plan. The same strategy worked for him in Sydney, where he got 97. He was very disappointed there when he got out. He played a similar innings in Brisbane as well. Now, we’ve seen how he likes to play his cricket – the hundred which he got last time in Australia, the one in England, they all bear the same style,” Rahane told Times of India.

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“His batting clearly spells out one thing – he takes his time initially and once he’s settled; he can singlehandedly take the game away from the opposition. I think that’s his template. He clearly needs to back his game,” he added.

The Indian team will now gear up to host England in a four-match Test series, starting from February 5 in Chennai.

The England cricket team led by captain Joe Root arrived in Chennai on Tuesday. The players along with the support staff flew to India from Sri Lanka where England recently won the two-match Test series 2-0.