Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener feels that Rishabh Pant is a great talent and he will learn from others’ mistakes to become more consistent for India in near future. He has an average of 22.90 in ODIs and 21.57 in T20s and his shot selection is an indication that he will go a long way.
“It would hard for me to pinpoint but with a phenomenal talent like that, one always tends to get a bit ahead of himself,” Klusener told PTI during an interaction.
Klusener has seen a bit of Rishabh Pant when he was appointed as Delhi senior team’s white-ball consultant last year.
“He needs to give himself time to get in and that bit of time will allow him to showcase his talent,” said Klusener. “What gets you ahead in international cricket is learning from others’ mistakes rather than making your own mistakes along the way and learning,” he said.
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“I will tell you why. You can learn from your own mistakes but it will take a lot more time to realise, correct and become a better player using that process. If you look at mistakes others are making, you will learn quickly and thus improve fast,” shared Klusener.
“It’s wonderful to have the talent like Rishabh in the twilight years of MS Dhoni’s career. From an Indian point of view, maybe they should try and get him to contribute more. He has some wonderful coaches and players around him so take their advice but at the same time don’t curb your natural talent,” advised the former player.
“We were possibly (that last batch of pure all-rounders),” he said. “This has happened because of their focus on white ball cricket or T20 cricket. Well, fairly decent bowlers can get away in T20 cricket. I think in the past, when the focus was more on Test cricket, you had to bowl 15-overs-a-day. The more you bowled or longer you batted, you got better at it naturally,” he said.
However, Klusener is eager to return as Delhi team’s white-ball consultant during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy starting on November 9.
“I haven’t yet decided but I would like to comeback. There are a few offers that I am contemplating. One is Bangladesh Premier League the dates of which, I believe, have been deferred and now clashing with Mushtaq Ali,” he said.
“I had good communication with DDCA brass and I thoroughly enjoyed my time over here. It was wonderful to work with Mithun Manhas last year, who is a good friend of mine and unfortunately, not there this year,” he concluded.
