Pant defends his record in white ball cricket

'The record is just a number. My white-ball numbers are not that bad.'

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Under immense scrutiny for his poor form in limited-overs’ cricket, dashing wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant insists that his white-ball numbers are "not that bad".

Pant has been terribly out of form in limited-overs’ cricket this year, scoring just one fifty in the shortest format, way back in February against the West Indies, while crossing the 30-run mark only twice in the 21 innings he played in 2022.

In ODIs, the 25-year-old scored two fifties and a hundred in the nine innings he played this year.

“...the record is just a number. My white-ball numbers are not that bad, okay," Pant told official broadcaster Prime Video ahead of the third and final One-Day International against New Zealand, in Christchurch, on Wednesday.

By comparison, Pant was at his best in the Test format and boasts of centuries in England, Australia and South Africa.

He said he doesn't believe in comparisons at this juncture of his career. "Comparison does not make sense right now. I am just 24-25 years of age. If you want to do the comparison, you can maybe do it when I am 30-32. Before that, the comparison does not make sense to me," a visibly miffed Pant said.

India’s vice-captain for the current series against New Zealand, Pant endured another failure, scoring just 10 in the third ODI on Wednesday.

Talking about his preferred batting position in limited-overs’ cricket, he said: "I would choose to open in T20Is, number 4-5 in ODIs and in Test I'm batting at 5. Yes, the game plan changes when you're batting lower down the order, but at the same time you have to bat where the team wants you to.

"There's no need to premeditate in ODIs; only in T20s you need to premeditate.