"He reminds me of my early days" - Virender Sehwag on Rishabh Pant

Former India opener Virender Sehwag recently heaped massive praise on Rishabh Pant. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' remarked that the wicketkeeper-batsman reminded him of his early days.

Rishabh Pant was brilliant in the Test matches against Australia and England earlier this year. He also carried that momentum into the recently-concluded ODI series against the Brits, thereby grabbing everyone's eyeballs.

Virender Sehwag believes the 23-year-old has a solid technique to bat in the middle-overs in ODIs and seemed quite impressed with Pant's mindset.

“The biggest positive that has come out of the series is Rishabh Pant. Because when he comes to bat in the middle overs in the ODIs, and the 2nd powerplay comes up, he uses it perfectly. I feel it is important for him to stay in this team, he has quite a positive mindset. He reminds me of my early days. He doesn’t think much of what others are saying, he just goes out to bat,” said Sehwag in a chat with Cricbuzz.

Virender Sehwag wants Rishabh Pant to bat till the end in limited-overs matches

Virender Sehwag, though, reiterated that Pant should learn to convert his 70 and 80-odd scores into centuries. In this regard, the 42-year-old said:

“But only if he learns how to bat for full 50 overs, and bats till the end, and learns to convert the 70s-80s into 100s, he could be the next superstar for India. The wicket was very good, the ground was short. Sometimes, you will get slow wickets, and you will not be able to hit your shots. How he gets out of those situations is very important to know, so he must know that."

Virender Sehwag opined that Rishabh Pant could be the next superstar in the limited-overs format if he ensures that he doesn't get out before the end of the 50th over.

"In the IPL, when he was not able to score runs, he must have changed something which was why he was able to score runs in Tests. But in ODIs, and T20Is, if he learns to bat till the end, and make the most of his abilities, then he can be the next superstar in white-ball cricket,” concluded Sehwag.

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Rishabh Pant will be our Captain for #IPL2021 ✨@ShreyasIyer15 has been ruled out of the upcoming season following his injury in the #INDvENG series and @RishabhPant17 will lead the team in his absence 🧢#YehHaiNayiDilli

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 30, 2021