Rishabh Pant extremely talented, but has flawed wicket-keeping technique, insists Farokh Engineer

Ever since the World Cup, 22-year-old Pant — hailed by the media and the team management as the heir to MS Dhoni’s throne — has come under immense criticism for his poor show with both bat and glove. Engineer empathizes with the amount of pressure Pant must be under from all sides but laid out the flaws in his wicket-keeping technique by drawing comparisons to India’s Test wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

“Everybody is there to criticise the young man. The poor guy has so much pressure on him. He is an extremely talented wicket-keeper, but his technique is flawed. He gets up too soon. These days, they have batsman-wicketkeepers and not wicketkeeper-batsman,” Engineer said, reported Sportstar.

“Saha, for example, is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He is predominantly a wicketkeeper. He rises with the ball. It’s difficult to stand up and going down again. You are wasting a fraction of second which could be very useful for a quick stumping. You stay as long as you can,” he explained.

The 81-year-old also recalled his meeting with Pant at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester during the World Cup earlier this year.

“We had a long chat for half-an-hour. I wish I had him with me for just two or three nets sessions and he would have been a much, much better wicket-keeper. I have that confidence,” Engineer added.