“He’s got one of the best defences in world cricket”- Ravichandran Ashwin hails Team India batter after BGT 2024-25

Former Indian player Ravichandran Ashwin praised the defensive technique of wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant after the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Pant endured an inconsistent series with the bat, scoring just 255 runs at an average of 28.33.

The left-hander scored just a half-century in nine innings despite making solid starts on several occasions. However, Pant showed his versatility in the final Test in Sydney with a 98-ball 40 and 33-ball 61 in the first and second innings respectively on an extremely challenging batting wicket.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin praised Pant’s defensive skills and felt that his 40 in the first innings had unfairly gone unnoticed amid their second innings attack.

“We must realize that Rishabh Pant rarely does well playing defense. He has one of the best defenses in world cricket. Defense has become a challenging aspect, he has the best defense with a soft hand. I have played a lot of bowling in The nets, he hasn’t come out, he doesn’t get an edge, he doesn’t get LBW, he has the best defence. One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, he has to fight in Test cricket,” he said.

Ashwin added:

“I have always grown up hearing that you have to fight. In Sydney, he played two different knocks in a single game. He was hit everywhere and scored 40, it will be Rishabh Pant’s least talked about innings. It is very In the second innings, he scored fifty of swashbuckling, which earned him a lot of praise. Everyone forgot that first inning and praised him for the second hit.

Ashwin has played with Pant in the Indian team for several years and recently retired midway through the Australian series.

Meanwhile, Pant boasts impressive Test numbers with nearly 3000 runs at an average of over 42 in 43 outings.

“Rishabh Pant has not yet reached his full potential” – Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin believes Rishabh Pant is yet to realize his full potential with the bat. He asked the wicketkeeper-batsman to work to find the ideal balance between defense and attack.

Despite his several heroic efforts in the past, Pant was heavily criticized for his ill-timed dismissals while playing rash shots during the Australian series.

“We have to tell him correctly what to do if he has to hit solidly or hit with intent. He hasn’t scored many runs, but he didn’t play like a runless guy. He’s got a lot of time.” in his hands, Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential,” Ashwin said.

He concluded:

“He has all the shots (reverse sweep, slow sweep, everything), but the problem is that all these shots are high-risk shots. With his defence, he will surely score runs in every game if he faces 200 balls. The point is to find that middle game. If you put all that together, you’ll score 100 runs every game. You’ve got to find that middle game.”

Pant played a pivotal role in India’s back-to-back Test series victories in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.

However, their poor performance in the recent series meant that India suffered a 1-3 defeat to hand the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.