Rishabh Pant took a support staff member onto the corner of the wicket and made him spit throw-downs moments after KL Rahul secured the game against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram with a six. Some of the spectators exiting the stadium halted and began shouting and exhorting Pant to unleash the powerful strokes.
Pant avoided the impulse to dead-bat the ball, but when he sliced an extremely wide ball, he struck it so hard that members of the camera team packing up their equipment after the presentation ceremony had to seek split-second evasive action. Pant apologised and resumed his dead-batting practice.
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He has recently been seen hitting largely at the nets or before or after games. His keenness is clear even in the scorching heat of Dubai, he is frequently the first to pad up and the last to un-pad. The actual outings in the middle have been rare. He did not bat in the last two games- against South Africa on Wednesday and Australia in Nagpur, and was benched for the first two games against Australia.
He did not make the most of his opportunities at the Asia Cup, when he stepped out to bat three times in four games before the 15th over, and aside from the insignificant game against Afghanistan, he didn't strike much.
In comparison to a Pant in dilemma, a Pant with an uncluttered attitude is a game changer. His Test career is a textbook example. He was once trapped between attacking and defending, and he ended up doing neither. A conversation with then-coach Ravi Shastri and some reflection helped him find clarity, and his career thrived as a result.
Pant, in red-ball cricket, is one of the most feared cricketers. But somehow, he has been unable to harness the big-hitting abilities in the shortest format.
On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik- like Pant, has only spent a few minutes in the middle. He did not bat in Thiruvananthapuram and faced only eight balls in three games against Australia.
He went unbeaten twice. He only faced one ball (one not out) in three games at the Asia Cup. So, in case you're wondering if India's chosen finisher has been having a bad run, he has only faced nine balls in his previous seven games and has been dismissed once. To make matters worse, he has only played 95 balls in his previous 17 games, or five balls per game on average.
Though it's a good sign that India's top four are batting so brilliantly that the middle order is rarely called upon for rescue runs, there should always be contingency plans in place.
There may be days when the quartet of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, and Virat Kohli collectively fail, as they did against Pakistan (Kohli aside) in the previous T20 World Cup, or before that in the 2019 50-over World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, or even further back to the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
Though the top four finish up with the most deliveries in a T20 game, the importance of the middle and lower orders cannot be overstated. They should be as well-tuned as the first four in an ideal world.
Even if they bat outside of their customary positions, both the players and the team would gain. A counter-argument is pending. Aren't the middle and lower orders prepared to deal with comparable occurrences? Isn't it their core business, arranging rescue missions and ending games? As valid as those reasons are, some game time and runs would do them no harm and instead strengthen the squad by covering all bases.
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