Rishabh Pant is doing his bit but he's capable of so much more

Over the past few years, not many Indian cricketers have been the source of as much discussion as Rishabh Pant. The wicket-keeper, who shot to fame as a teenager, has seen his fair share of ups and downs, with fans quick to raise him to an unprecedented pedestal before sending him crashing down to earth.

One of the points for contention throughout his career, has been his tendency to be slightly too gung-ho at times. On quite a few occasions, this trait has come to the fore in Test cricket and has made many wonder if Pant has the temperament to succeed. The youngster has silenced those critics emphatically in recent times, although his sustainability in the shortest format, long touted as his strongest suit, has come under the scanner.

Prima facie, there doesn’t seem to be a relation between his Test form and his T20 exploits. If anything, the success in red-ball cricket should leave Pant in good stead to leave his imprint on the shortest version of the game too.

But in IPL 2020 and IPL 2021, the wicket-keeper struggled for rhythm. He was still finding ways to establish himself at the crease, courtesy of his street-smartness. But the big shots that are usually synonymous with his brand of batting, were reduced to fleeting glimpses.

In the current iteration of the IPL, that has changed a touch. As things stand, Pant is striking at 149.04 and has averaged a tick over 33. For most cricketers, that would be enough, considering he is scoring runs consistently and is doing so at a good tempo. But that is where the catch lies here. Pant, in lieu of the talent he possesses, shouldn’t really be satisfied with pretty 30s and 40s.

When he waltz out to the centre, he should pump his chest out, impose his repertoire of strokes and tell the opposition that he intends to take the game away from the opposition. That intent has been present in 2022, to be fair to Pant. The execution, though, has gone awry too many times – something that just isn’t befitting of someone of his class, stature and talent.

His season began with a low score against the Mumbai Indians at the Brabourne Stadium. Against the Gujarat Titans, however, he seemed in pristine touch and the Delhi Capitals’ run-chase (a 172-run target) depended on how Pant would fare.

He got off to a brisk start and blazed away to 43 off 28 balls. At the start of the 15th over, the Capitals only required 54 runs in 6 overs and had six wickets in hand, including that of their skipper. Unfortunately, the left-handed batter had a loose attempt at a pull and was dismissed at deep backward square leg by Lockie Ferguson.

A game later, Pant crawled to 39* off 36 balls. The wicket at the DY Patil stadium was a bit sluggish but Prithvi Shaw had earlier creamed 61 off 34 balls. The DC captain came out to bat during the middle overs and got stuck in a rut, eventually being unable to break free even as the situation demanded something more cavalier. His innings, if anything, was detrimental to the Capitals and opened up the age-old debate of whether he had cracked the T20 code.

Against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Pant promoted himself up the order after David Warner and Shaw had rinsed KKR in the powerplay. The wicket-keeper played his part too, scoring 27 off 14 balls and continuing the momentum. But this could’ve been an essay where he teed off completely, put together a 50-60-run knock and put the game well beyond doubt. DC still won that match but this was another edition to what has become a slightly recurring pattern.

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Rishabh Pant has not taken his team across the line in recent games

There have also been scores of 34, 44 and 44 since – each of those coming in losing causes and in run-chases. While the first was cut short by a spectacular Virat Kohli catch, the others hinted that Pant might just have lost concentration at the wrong moments.

Against the Rajasthan Royals, the Capitals, despite chasing 223, had kept the required run-rate in check. Pant had motored along to 44 off 23 balls and DC were placed at 124/3 after 11.3 overs. The youngster then had a wild hack across the line – a shot that resulted in a tame dismissal and allowed RR to surge ahead.

In the run-chase against the Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday, DC had gotten themselves ahead of the game. Rovman Powell had established himself at the crease, and Pant had produced a vintage batting display. Well, at least until he decided to miss a straight delivery that was angled into him on middle and leg stump. It was almost as if the wicket-keeper had so many things on his mind that he forgot to remember the one thing that matters in cricket – watching the ball.

A compilation of all these dismissals don’t really highlight a technical trend or illustrate a technical deficiency. A large chunk of the strokes that he has attempted has been a part of his arsenal and on a majority of days, you would back him to pull them off – partly because he’s done it before but largely because he remains one of the most gifted stroke-makers India has seen all these years.

But it’s just that these have not come off far too often for them to be labelled an aberration. The Capitals have played nine matches so far and Pant has batted in eight of them. None, however, can be jotted down as the essay that won DC the game.

In many ways, Pant has been doing his bit. He has batted with intensity in the middle order and has ensured that DC have maintained continuity while batting. The problem, though, is that he is capable of so much more. He should, under ideal circumstances, winning games off his own accord and off his own willow. And that, at the moment, isn’t happening regularly enough.

Post the fixture against LSG, Pant pointed out that DC were losing crucial moments in crunch clashes. It’s a completely fair point. They have been guilty of surrendering the initiative on quite a few occasions. Deep down, though, the comment might’ve been a reflection on his personal form. He might just have been admonishing himself for having let go of so many opportunities as well.

His higher strike rate and willingness to throw caution to the wind, despite the added responsibility of captaincy, has been refreshing to see in 2022. But with Pant, that’s not enough. Oh, and it has divided opinion too – much like it has done almost every time he has stepped onto the field.