Sanjay Manjrekar has applauded Rishabh Pant for playing a stunning knock on Day 3 of the ongoing Cape Town Test against South Africa.
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Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has applauded young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for playing a stunning knock on Day 3 of the ongoing Cape Town Test against South Africa. While he scored a century, according to the veteran, his main focus was on extending the lead in the second innings as well.
However, the youngster scored an unbeaten 100 off 139 balls on Thursday. Notably, Team India could manage 198 runs in 67.3 overs as the rest of the batting order failed to put up much scores as well. While praising Rishabh Pant, Manjrekar said during a discussion on ESPN Cricinfo that he proved he is a complete team man.
He said: “How unselfish was that innings. He was only focused on prolonging that innings. Pant was not worried about getting that hundred. He has got out in the 90s a couple of times. This is a guy who plays for his team and that was amply evident.”
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Manjrekar further added: “Lot of big-name batters would have quickly got a hundred and then decided ‘let me see what I can do’. He was constantly thinking of just one goal – to extend the innings.”
However, Sanjay Manjrekar slammed the left-hander earlier for playing a ‘reckless’ shot in the last Test. He stated that the youngster has played a similar stroke on Thursday also but this time it went to the boundary.
The former batsman added: “There is something unique about this guy. A lot of criticism for the shot he played and got out to Rabada in the last Test match. He played the same shot against Olivier when he was 14 or 18, smacked him four. Virender Sehwag was different, this is a guy who is even more different. Look at the exploits. He scored more than half the runs for the side.”
Former South African batter Daryll Cullinan has also described Rishabh Pant’s performance as the knock of the series. He said in praise: “He (Pant) took on the short ball and actually made it look fairly comfortable. He then got the bowlers to pitch it up and try something else. I have seen highlights of his batting in the past, but this is the first time I have sat down and actually watched the guy play. He is a serious talent. Putting everything else aside, it has been the knock of the series so far.”
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Notably, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli (29) added in a fifth-wicket stand of 94. But, they couldn’t post a massive total as tail-enders failed to score. And, Manjrekar criticized India’s lower-order for their batting woes. However, chasing a target of 212 to win the Test as well as the series, South Africa ended Day 3 at 101/2.
“I have a problem with Mohammed Shami’s shot, especially with Pant at the other end. That was somebody trying to show some bravado. All he had to do was hang in there. With the kind of ability Pant has, who knows, he could have taken 30-40 runs more. Bumrah too has got caught in this thing with (Marco) Jansen. He wants to show that ‘I am not someone who is scared of fast bowling’. Those shots were like two tailenders trying to set a target with shortage of time. That has to be looked at,” Manjarekar concluded.
