Former India player turned commentator Cheteshwar Pujara has applauded Rishabh Pant for playing an important knock under pressure in the first Test against Sri Lanka. He also added that Pant would be low on confidence, as he hasn’t been doing well in white-ball cricket as well. Notably, Pant scored 66 runs off 69 balls as India were bundled out for 193 in their second innings in Galle on Tuesday, August 18 as well.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Pujara said, “Although it might be 60-odd runs, I think it was an outstanding knock considering the situation. There was slight pressure on him. He is not performing in white-ball cricket. He isn’t part of India’s ODI and T20I squads. He is playing only the Test format at the moment.”

“Even in the IPL, he hasn’t been performing that well. So your confidence as a batter goes down slightly. You feel a little pressure at that stage. Playing such an innings despite that pressure needs to be praised. That’s why Rishabh Pant should be in the Test squad,” he further added.

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However, Cheteshwar Pujara also appreciated Rishabh Pant for playing sensibly and concentrating on sweeps and reverse sweeps against Keshara Nuwantha as well.

“The thing I liked the most was that he batted sensibly. He has to play attackingly, that’s his natural game, but along with that, he defended when required. He played shots when the fast bowlers came. He was using the sweep and reverse sweep against the off-spinner. Those are excellent shots,” he said.

“He was stepping out and trying to hit over mid-on and mid-off in the first innings. He didn’t try that today. He was playing pull shots and over mid-off against the fast bowlers. That’s his strength. So he batted to his strengths. He improved his shot selection,” Cheteshwar Pujara concluded.