'Very, very impressed. He is carrying on the good form he has been in the past three-four months.'
'Most of all, he is playing smart and intelligent cricket.'
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant registered his highest One-Day International score as India beat England by seven runs in the series-deciding third match of the series, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium, in Pune, on Sunday.
After smashing 77 runs off 40 balls in the second ODI, Pant played a smart knock of 78 runs off 62 balls, which included five fours and four sixes.
The left-hander missed out on a maiden hundred, edging the ball to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, but received praise from former India captain Sunil Gavaskar for his display with the bat.
Pant also became only the third India wicketkeeper-batsman to score multiple fifty-plus scores in a series against England, after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s three fifties in 2011, Rahul Dravid’s two fifties in 2002 and Dhoni’s two fifties versus England in 2011.
Gavaskar said Pant is playing intelligent cricket.
"Very, very impressed. He is carrying on the good form he has been in the past three-four months. Most of all, he is playing smart and intelligent cricket. He is not trying to slog every ball.
"He is waiting for the right ball to come when the ball is tossed up and within his range; that's when he is playing the big shot.”
"Otherwise, look at some of the other shots he has played. He has used the bottom hand to a good effect. He knows exactly where the fielders are. Therefore, he is making sure he is hitting the ball in vacant spaces," Gavaskar added.
Retired Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq made a bold claim about Pant after his fireworks.
“The way he expresses himself and the range of strokes he has, I have seen it only in two wicketkeeper-batsmen in the last 30-35 years: MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist. These were the two wicketkeepers who could change a match. The kind of performance Rishabh Pant is giving, if he continues to play in the same manner, he will leave both of them behind, and by quite some distance,” Inzy said, on his Youtube channel.
