In the T20 series against South Africa, the command of Team India is in the hands of Rishabh Pant, but he has so far failed to make an impact both as a captain and as a batsman. While he has lost two matches as captain, while batting, he has been able to score only 40 runs in 3 matches at an average of 13.33 and strike rate of 129.03.
Former Indian Test team opener Aakash Chopra and commentator believe that Rishabh Pant is a class player of Test, but his form in T20 is a big question. Aakash Chopra says that in the fourth T20 match against South Africa, Team India will expect some more runs from Rishabh Pant’s bat.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra talks about his hopes for the Indian batting lineup in Friday’s game. He said, ‘Rishabh Pant is a big question. He needs to score some more runs. He played a slightly important innings in the first match. It was a short but quick innings. However, after that he did not look like Rishabh Pant. Interestingly, he is a class player in Tests, but in T20s his graph keeps going up and down like an ECG.
Aakash Chopra feels that Ishan Kishan will be everyone’s focal point in the fourth T20 match as well. He said, ‘Ishan Kishan will be in focus again. He has played consistently well in the series so far. Fourth innings can be interesting because 4 good innings in a row doesn’t always come.
Aakash Chopra also feels that Team India may consider replacing Avesh Khan with Arshdeep Singh or Umran Malik in the fourth T20 International. Avesh has not taken a single wicket in 3 T20 matches against South Africa so far. However, he could have dismissed Rossi van der Dussen in the first match if Shreyas Iyer had not dropped a simple catch in the deep.
Aakash Chopra said, ‘Can there be any change in Indian bowling? Avesh Khan! He hasn’t got a single wicket so far. You can probably make changes there, but if you want to make changes then then. Once again it is going to be a subjective decision as to what you want to do.
Aakash Chopra feels that the pitch in Rajkot will be liked by Rituraj Gaikwad. Elaborating, he said, “Rituraj Gaikwad played beautifully in the last match. I thought they definitely caused an uproar. Enrique Nortje hit 5 fours in the over. However, a ball hit his head too, but he played well. He didn’t panic. The pickup shots were beautiful. The pitches in the western region suit him.