Adam Gilchrist and Rishabh Pant
Underlining Rishabh Pant's meteoric rise in international cricket, Dinesh Karthik has said that the young wicketkeeper-batsman has the effect that former greats such as Virender Sehwag or Adam Gilchrist used to have on rivals.
Pant is in a purple patch across all three formats and seems to have cemented his place in the national set-up. A string of impressive performances in Australia and home series against England have made Pant India's first-choice wicketkeeper for the upcoming WTC final and the five-Test series against the Three Lions.
Karthik, who was a part of India's 2019 World Cup squad, believes Pant instills fear in the mind of the opposition. The ex-KKR skipper will also be seen commentating as a 'pundit' during India's WTC final clash against New Zealand from June 18th.
“He lends flexibility to the team and the management has the opportunity to play the extra batsman or the bowler as per requirement.
"And what is most important is the way he instills fear in the mind of opposition. Pant has the effect that Virender Sehwag or Adam Gilchrist used to have on rivals,” Karthik told the Times of India in an interview.
In the recent IPL edition, Pant also took charge of the Delhi Capitals in absence of regular skipper Shreyas Iyer. Under Pant, Delhi Capitals finished at the top of the points table before this year's IPL was halted midway amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases in its bio-bubble. With six wins in eight games, the Capitals secured the first spot with 12 points.
