After enduring a life-altering setback, Rishabh Pant’s, India top wicketkeeper-batsman, has mounted an inspiring return to competitive cricket. The captain of the Delhi Capitals has garnered widespread acclaim for his remarkable performances with both bat and gloves in the ongoing IPL 2024.
Pant has emerged as one of the standout performers, accumulating 413 runs in 11 matches at an impressive average of 41.30 and a strike-rate of 156.43. These figures are particularly noteworthy considering his absence from cricket for over a year. It’s worth highlighting that Pant has achieved these feats while batting in the middle order, a position he’s likely to occupy for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Undoubtedly, Pant has dazzled with his batting prowess, drawing attention for both positive and negative reasons. However, there’s an aspect of his batting performance that has been somewhat overlooked in the statistics. While his overall batting average stands at 41, it dips significantly to 26.2 against spin bowling. In today’s cricket landscape, where strike-rates carry immense significance, Pant’s strike-rate against spin in the IPL stands at 114.91, notably lower than his scoring rate against pace, which is 188.
Against spinners, Pant takes roughly 9 deliveries to hit a boundary in this year’s IPL, a stark contrast to facing pacers where he achieves this feat in just 4 deliveries.
During a recent encounter against RR, Pant faced the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. A tense showdown ensued between Pant and Chahal, who had previously outwitted him earlier in the season. Unfortunately, history repeated itself as Chahal dismissed Pant swiftly. The DC skipper played a rash shot and found the fielder. This incident highlights the urgent need for Pant to balance his aggression and find effective strategies against adept spinners.
This struggle against spin isn’t an isolated incident; it has become a recurring challenge for Pant. Since IPL 2020, Pant has averaged a modest 29.9 against spinners, having been dismissed 10 times.
In this IPL season alone, Pant has fallen prey to spinners in five out of his 12 innings, with all dismissals attributed to right-arm leg-spinners. Out of the 114 balls he’s faced against spin, 40 have resulted in dot balls, contributing to his lower strike-rate against spin this year.
These statistics indicate that Pant has adopted a cautious approach against spin bowling, particularly right-arm leg-spin. Whether this stems from his confidence in facing faster bowlers remains unclear. However, it’s evident that he isn’t as dominant against spin as he once was.
Looking ahead to the T20 World Cup, conditions are anticipated to favor slow pitches, with India captain Rohit Sharma acknowledging the likelihood of spin-friendly conditions in the West Indies. Consequently, India has included four spinners in their squad. Rishabh Pant’s recent struggles against spin could pose a challenge for both the team and himself.
In contrast, Sanju Samson has excelled against spin bowling this season, remaining unbeaten against spinners while maintaining a strike-rate of 145.8.
Rishabh Pant’s set to be India’s primary wicket-keeping option in the T20 World Cup and is expected to play a pivotal role batting at No. 5 or 6. However, his difficulties against spin could jeopardize India’s aspirations of clinching the trophy, particularly as rival teams closely scrutinize the IPL 2024 to devise strategies for the mega event.
Pant is grappling with a significant and persistent issue against spin bowling, which could potentially sway the outcome of matches in the World Cup. It’s imperative for him to address this weakness and refine his approach to spin bowling, especially with the in-form Samson posing a formidable challenge.
