In an exclusive interview with India TV, Raju Sharma, who coached Rishabh Pant in his early days, and is also a coach at Sehwag Cricket Academy, talked about Rishabh Pant as a batter and captain, the inclusion of Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh, India's performance vs South Africa in the first T20 and much more.
Excerpts From The Interview
On Rishabh Pant's Captaincy
- Pant is new to captaincy. Playing IPL is different than international cricket. You need to lead from the front at this stage. He will mature slowly. But again, Kotla's wicket got better as the match progressed.
On Rishabh Pant's batting
- Pant got out at the wrong stage, should have stayed till the end. You can't be Dhoni this early. He should play value shots and not just look to hit it powerfully. That kind of shot shows his immaturity.
On if Rishabh Pant can be looked at as the next captain
- The keeper in my opinion is the best captain. Pant will mature slowly. He will need to be a lot more responsible. If someone else gets his place, it will be difficult for him to get back. But this is his first match, he has captained well in IPL, just give him a few more matches, and then we'll see.
On Shreyas Iyer
- Shreyas Iyer played well. But he should have converted it to a fifty. He should have stayed, shouldn't have left the team hanging in the middle.
On David Miller
- The only difference between David Miller and Pant or Iyer is his maturity and, the way he finished the game. This is international cricket and you need to play with maturity to succeed.
On teams preparing for Harshal Patel
- Patel has done well in IPL. Everyone has seen him perform. So, they have done their homework. They used the crease well against Harshal.
On bowlers having a bad day
- They were bowling safe. They need to Bowl all sic balls with strong conviction. Only then they can succeed on flat tracks.
On India's batting
Rabada gave away too much yesterday, and so did Nortje. We hit them and we were very good. But considering Kotla, the target should have been around 230-250.
On Ruturaj Gaikwad
He performed well in the IPL, made 23 runs yesterday, but couldn't just get going. Again, once you get to 20-25, you should stay and make it big.
On Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh
See, Umran should be given a chance, he is young and should be unleashed. Both Umran and Arshdeep should be given a chance and the bowlers should be rotated to build the bench strength.
