Cheteshwar Pujara finds it very perplexing that a talented batter such as Rishabh Pant hasn’t been able to duplicate his Test cricket heroics in the IPL, where the southpaw’s record has been somewhat mediocre.
Pant has lost ground in white-ball cricket, but he is still India’s top wicketkeeper-batter in red-ball cricket. Despite winning the T20 World Cup in 2024, he is no longer a member of the T20I squad and is still KL Rahul’s second choice in ODIs.
Over the course of 134 IPL games, Pant has amassed 3,757 runs at a strike rate of 146, which is marginally below average for a top-four batter. He has also scored two hundreds and 20 fifties. He has amassed 3,476 runs in 49 Test matches, including 8 hundreds, 18 fifties, and three-figure scores in South Africa, Australia, and England.
“I am also very surprised because someone like Rishabh Pant who can attack any bowler in Test cricket and his IPL, when we just look at the stats, it is not as good as in Test cricket,” Pujara, a JioHotstar CTV expert, was quoted by PTI telling reporters in an interaction in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“I think it is the mindset thing also. There has to be some more clarity in the way Rishabh plays. I still feel that someone like Pant, who is a quality batter (and) can play all three formats of the game, his record in T20 cricket should be a lot better than what it reflects,” Pujara said.
Regarding Pant’s batting in the IPL, the former India batsman stated that some clarity is definitely required. After a few poor performances, Pant, who had hoped to bat in the top order at the beginning of the IPL this year, has switched back to middle.
“Technically, I don’t see a lot of changes which is needed in Rishabh’s batting. It’s just the mindset. It’s also clarity of thoughts, clarity in what he needs to do when he walks in to bat and the kind of shots he should play because in Test cricket, he knows that these are his areas and even if the field is kept on the fence, he still picks the right pockets to hit the shots,” Pujara said.
Pujara believes that Pant’s T20 strategy is primarily leg-side centered and that he would benefit from some practice creating off-side hits.
“In T20 format, he is a little more dominant on the leg side where he will have to work on his game on the off side which will allow him to be even more successful,” Pujara said.
MI captain Hardik Pandya will need to assess whether or not the captaincy load is impacting his performance, according to Pujara, but the former India batter stated that it is definitely not working out for Pant.
“Well, it can. I think that is something which he can only answer that but we have seen that other players, someone like Rishabh Pant who also hasn’t been performing really well, he is leading the team, even Axar Patel, does it affect their performance as a leader?,” Pujara said.
“I mean, they (Pandya and Pant) are the ones who can answer that but sometimes yes, it can affect. Especially in the case of Rishabh Pant, if he is focusing more on his game, that will definitely help him because we have seen that captainship hasn’t been helping him a lot.”
“But it is always his personal decision whether he wants to continue as a leader or the franchise looks at another leader and if Rishabh Pant plays as a player will his performance get better? If it does, then I’m sure he should do that, but it is always a personal call,” Pujara added.
However, Pujara defended India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’s batting struggles, arguing that the IPL overvalues consistency.
“Consistency is overrated In a T20 format and I’m not denying, Surya’s performance hasn’t been great,” Pujara said.
“Yes it can definitely improve but you are playing a role for the team in a T20 format. If you are walking in and scoring say an eight-ball 20 runs and if it’s helping the team and you are getting out, you are not looking at that individual performance.”
“It’s because sometimes our expectation is for a player to get 40-50-60 whatever that higher number is but the impact which you bring in a team is more important than the number of runs you get,” Pujara added.
