Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed a stunning difference he observed in Rishabh Pant’s stance for attacking and defensive shots ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka as well. In a discussion on how the Sri Lankan spinners can beat India’s left-handers, R Ashwin shared how premeditation has become an important part of modern-day Test batting as well. Pant has been among the flag-bearers in Test batting in the modern era, with his ability to bat across the park as well.
Talking about Rishabh Pant’s batting stance on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said, “Modern-day Test batters are premeditating a lot of shots. For example, I’ve a few markers for Rishabh Pant. If Pant holds the bat steadily on the ground, he is going to play a defensive shot. If he’s going to attack, he will keep lifting and hitting the bat onto the ground. ”
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“So to Pant, you can bowl as much outside offstump as possible. To him, I will never keep the stumps in play. The number of times he gets LBW or bowled early on is minimal. Keep bowling outside offstump and challenge him by asking how long he’ll stay patient,” he again shared.
Ravichandran Ashwin also believes Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant are two Indian left-handers who cannot defend for long periods even in a Test match as well. Yet, Ashwin also questioned the quality in Sri Lanka’s spin attack, calling it India’s biggest advantage in the two-match Test series as well.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal is similar to Pant. They cannot play defense for a long time. But the problem is Sri Lanka don’t have the spinner that can execute this monotonously for a long period of time. India are better in the spin department with Jadeja’s experience, Suthar’s quality, and Kuldeep’s experience, guile, and mystery. If India’s batting holds up, they should win. But from Sri Lanka’s side, I’ll look at all possibilities to break the back of India’s batting. For that, the ball has to turn. If the ball holds and turns from the first hour, Sri Lanka have their best chance,” R Ashwin concluded.
