The veteran Indian spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin reckons that people should cut some slack for Rishabh Pant, which helo the youngster to go from strength to strength. Be it for his keeping or batting, Pant needs to be spared from all sorts of comparisons, expressed Ashwin, who has been keeping the young stumper on his toes, with deliveries that look like fetching the team wickets every now and then.
Talking about the same, Ravichandran Ashwin said, “He was constantly compared with the great MS Dhoni for a long time. Now he gets compared for his wicket-keeping with (Wriddhiman) Saha, this that and all that, sometimes it’s just better to give a break and let people build on confidence. With respect to Rishabh’s keeping, the name of the game is confidence right, he has been batting well, he has been working incredibly hard on his keeping as well.”
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He further added, “And sometimes, when you are constantly being compared to someone who has done well for years, it can be really hard, I really do feel for Rishabh, on a lot occasions, when I am watching games from home where he is playing the white-ball format. He has definitely got the ability, that is why he is here and I have no doubt he will go from strength to strength.”
After playing a key role in India’s incredible series win in Australia last month, Pant was immediately got compared with Dhoni, he wants to carve his own identity in the game. Ashwin has now dismissed more left-handers than anyone else in Test cricket, as on Sunday, he became the first bowler to dismiss 200 left-handers in Test cricket.
Ashwin was delighted to have got a five-wicket haul — his 29th overall — at his home ground and in front of spectators.
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Explaining his delight, Ravichandran Ashwin said, “Look, I think, it is wonderful to have the crowd back in the first place, we haven’t played (in front of) crowds for a long time. On the other hand, playing in front of my home ground is always special for me and to get five wickets here is something that I would always cherish and in front of the crowd is even better.”
