'He reminds me of Adam Gilchrist': Lloyd says Rishabh Pant's fine attacking instincts should be encouraged
Watching Rishabh Pant's knock against England in the second Test at Lord's on Friday, former English cricketer David Lloyd feels the youngster is most effective when playing his shots.
Rishabh Pant is only 23 years old but his comparisons with former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist continue to die down. Pant and Gilchrist have often been spoken of in the same sentence given how strikingly similar the India keeper's batting is to the Australia legend. Pant likes to go after the bowlers irrespective of the situation, which is something Gilchrist mastered. And watching his knock against England in the second Test at Lord's on Friday, former English cricketer David Lloyd feels the youngster is most effective when playing his shots.
With India losing overnight batsmen KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane in the first two overs of Day 2, Pant launched a counter attack on Ollie Robinson and James Anderson, hitting five boundaries en route to an entertaining 37 off 58 balls. A fearless Pant often stepped out to both England quicks and gave the ball a whack to add a useful 49-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja.
"England had taken two early wickets when Rishabh Pant came to the crease. DK asked me: 'As a former coach would you tell him to rein it in?' No, I wouldn't. It's his role to take the attack to the opposition whatever the situation. He reminds me of Adam Gilchrist. There's no dropping anchor. Wrest the initiative back. And quickly," Lloyd wrote for Daily Mail.
Pant has been producing these cameos a lot frequently. In the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand, Pant played a similar kind of knock in India's second innings, scoring 41 off 88 balls. He perished trying to play a big shot, after which he received flak form several former cricketers, but while he has received criticism, there are also those, who like Lloyd, believe that Pant is best when he's not trying to curb his attacking instincts.
Prior to the start of the second Test, India captain Virat Kohli had backed Pant to play his usual game, while mentioning that it is necessary to known when to attack and defend. Even on Friday, it wasn't all ballistic hitting from Pant. He blocked the balls that were dangerous to play shots on, while punishing whatever that was loose on offer.