Can he win World Cup for India?

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 19

As opposing captains, Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting have had quite a few differing views on cricketing matters. But now, as part of the Delhi Capitals management — Ponting as coach and Ganguly as advisor — the two agree that Rishabh Pant should be in India’s team for the World Cup.

Both also talked him up as an option for India at No. 4 in the batting order.  Pant has two Test 100s but not a single 50 in the five ODIs he’s played, and he averages merely 19.41 in 15 T20Is. He has copped a lot of flak for the manner of his dismissals. But Ganguly and Pointing believe Pant can be a match-winner at the World Cup.

“I would pick him if I was an Indian selector, and I will pick him as a batter at No. 4 because he is the sort of guy, with that kind of talent, he can win you a World Cup,” Ponting said. “He has just got that X-factor.”

Ganguly said Pant needs to bat up the order to make an impact in the limited-over formats. “Once he starts getting the opportunity consistently, he will be a top player. Look at the way he played in the IPL last year... He got a full tournament, 14 games, and he was probably the second-highest run-getter,” Ganguly said. “The problem with him in shorter formats is that he doesn’t get regular cricket, because you have a champion in MS Dhoni who actually plays most of the shorter formats... So Rishabh is coming in and going out all the time, and that’s never good for anybody.” “The reason he succeeds in Test cricket is because he plays consistently. How many Indian wicketkeeper-batsmen have got Test hundreds in England and Australia?” Ganguly added. “For me, he is your future.”

Options at 4

Ganguly added that India have a lot of options for the No. 4 spot. “There are many choices but I think the IPL will decide who will get that position,” Ganguly said. “I had said (Cheteshwar) Pujara because he has been in good form. I saw (Rahul) Dravid do the role when I was captain. If you don’t have an option you can try him (Pujara). Pant or (Ambati) Rayudu could be an option as well. We can give our opinion, but somewhere I feel Kohli knows who will be his No. 4 at the World Cup.”

Hardik needs to be monitored: Zaheer

Mumbai: Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, a master in injury management during the later part of his playing career, feels that Hardik Pandya's workload should be monitored since he has had recurring lower-back injuries. In the last six months, Pandya has had two breakdowns with recurring back injury which ruled him out of the Asia Cup in September 2018 and out of the home series against Australia earlier this month. “When I saw him during Asia Cup, I was very concerned with the kind of signs I saw on the field. But when I spoke to him (Hardik), I found out it's not a problem which he has faced for the first time. That's something which should be worked on because three or four years ago he had a similar kind of issue with the back,” Khan said. Khan has observed that Pandya's injury is about the impact on the follow-through  which has caused him problems. — PTI