Rishabh Pant responds to criticism: 'My white-ball record is not bad either'
Rishabh Pant responded to a question mark raised by prominent commentator Harsha Bhogle on the gap between his Test and limited-overs record. The young Indian wicketkeeper-batter agreed that his T20I numbers haven't been up to the mark but said his overall white-ball record is "not bad".
The comment was made during a rain break at the start of the third ODI against New Zealand in Christchurch on Wednesday (November 30). In a brief interaction, Bhogle told Pant he had a similar conversation with equally aggressive Virender Sehwag once, wherein he asked him why despite his style of play, his Test record is better than his white-ball record.
Rishabh Pant perhaps mistook it for a comparison with the mighty Sehwag initially but later understood where Bhogle was coming from. The player told the veteran broadcaster in Hindi: "Sir, record toh ek number hai. Mera white-ball record bhi kharab nahi hai. Thik hai T20 ka... (Sir, records are just numbers. My white-ball record is not bad either...)"
To this, Bhogle quickly interrupted: "Main kharab nahi kar raha hu, comparison kar raha hu. (I'm not saying it's bad, I'm comparing it with the Test numbers)"
The Pant-Bhogle conversation
Later, Pant expanded on his point, stating since he is young there is no "logic" in comparing him with someone else or even doing a comparison of his record across formats.
Under pressure due to the talk around his numbers, Pant stressed it's only when he turns older and enters his thirties will it be wise to look at his track record and say he did better in a particular version of the game.
"Comparison karna toh sir apne life ka part hi nahi hai na. Abhi main 24-25 years ka hu, comparison karna hai toh jab main 30-32 ka ho jayunga t
Rishabh Pant interview with Harsha Bhogle before 3rd ODI against NZ talking about rain, batting position, stats and scrutiny over T20i performance & WK drills. #NZvINDonPrime pic.twitter.com/pAOx84a5ZU
— Hetram Chaudhary (@Hetram95) November 30, 2022
ab karna, usse pahle toh koi logic nahi hai mere liye. (Doing comparisons is not a part of my life. I'm 24-25, if you want to compare, you can do that when I am 30-32)."
Pant would obviously have qualms with it, but his record does have a skew across formats. The left-hander, regarded as one of the world's leading wicketkeeper-batter, has been an impact player in Tests for India, averaging 43.32 with a strike-rate of 72.65 with tons in England, Australia and South Africa.
The ODI game has seen Pant swiftly transition into India's maverick at No.4 to take down opposition match-ups. He averages 35.62 in his role despite carrying a high-end SR of 107.54, including a ton that sealed a series in England in July.
But his T20I record pales in comparison. As he stands today, Pant has been a failure over 56 innings worth of batting, going at only 126.37 while averaging 22.43. Critics say, Pant is extremely lucky India don't have an alternate middle-order left-hander showing similar range in the IPL or else he would've dropped from the T20I side a while back.