Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has applauded Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s defensive technique after the end of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Pant also faced a poor series with the bat, scoring only 255 runs which came at an average of 28.33. He scored just one half-century in nine innings despite getting off to solid starts on several occasions as well. Pant also showcased his skill in the final Test at Sydney with a 98-ball 40 and a 33-ball 61 in the first and second innings, respectively as well.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin hailed Pant’s defensive skills, saying, “We must realise that Rishabh Pant rarely gets out playing a defence. He’s got one of the best defences in world cricket. Defence has become a challenging aspect, he has the best defence with a soft hand. I have bowled to him a lot in the nets, he’s not gotten out, he doesn’t get an edge, he doesn’t get LBW, he has the best defence. I have tried telling it to him. One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, he has to fight it out in Test cricket.”

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“I have always grown up hearing that you have fight it out. In Sydney, he played two different knocks in one single game. He got hit everywhere and scored a 40, it will be the least spoken innings of Rishabh Pant. It is very unfair. In the second innings, he scored a swashbuckling fifty, earning him a lot of praise. Everyone forgot that first innings and praised him for the second knock,” he further added.

Ravichandran Ashwin also believes Rishabh Pant is still to realize his full potential with the bat as well. He urged him to work on finding the
ideal balance between defence and attack as well.

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“We have to tell him properly what he has to do if he has to bat solid or bat with intent. He hasn’t scored a lot of runs, but he didn’t play like someone without runs. He has a lot of time on his hands. Rishabh Pant is yet to realise his fullest potential. He has all the shots—reverse sweep, slog sweep, everything—but the problem is that all these shots are high-risk shots. With his defence, he will surely score runs every game if he faces 200 balls. The point is finding that middle game. If he combines all of it, he will score 100 runs every game. He has to find that middle game.”