Rishabh Pant will find it “very difficult” to be at his fluent best at the beginning of the IPL but Sunil Gavaskar expects that his knees will react better once he starts batting more and more in match situations.
Having survived a horrific car crash in December, 2022, Pant will make a comeback to competitive cricket after more than 14 months as Delhi Capitals captain after an extensive rehabilitation programme.
“It’ll be very difficult. But the good thing is he (Pant) has played some cricket. So he has got some practice. To get fluency in batting is a little tough,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
He then explained his point of view.
“When you talk of a knee injury, the pivoting that takes place. Wicket-keeping is difficult as well, but even in batting, the knee is quite important. So, maybe, in the beginning, we won’t see the real Rishabh Pant that we are used to,” the maestro said.
Pant’s presence and his chatty nature also adds to the entertainment quotient, Gavaskar admitted.
“To find a wicketkeeper like him who comments from behind the stumps, that’s full-on entertainment because there are a lot of wicketkeepers who would like to disturb your concentration by saying different things.”
“…..but Rishabh Pant has the ability to say such a thing that whoever he is targeting, they also laugh, they also enjoy it. But when enjoying it, their concentration goes down a bit, right? The advantage is for his team then.”
Gavaskar is also interested to see how Shubman Gill’s maiden captaincy stint turns out at Gujarat Titans.
“That is going to be the most important thing: the way he can handle the captaincy. Will it affect and impact his batting? And the second thing is there is a commonality in our initials; both of us are SG’s, and if we go even further, my initials are SMG, and he has Shubh-Man Gill in his name,” the legendary Indian batsman quipped.