Rishabh Pant has led the Delhi Capitals (DC) since the 2021 season. Last season, the Capitals made the playoffs, and Pant impressed with his ball-striking talents. However, he has struggled to find his natural form in IPL 2022, causing the squad to fall short of a playoff place.
Former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra believes Pant has underutilized his talent this season.
Nikhil Chopra on Rishabh Pant
Nikhil Chopra believes Rishabh Pant has not done justice to his skills this season, citing the fact that the southpaw has yet to register a fifty, compared to his three half-centuries in the 2021 edition. He anticipated that the DC skipper will make a significant impact and help the club win the vital match against the Mumbai Indians. Pant has 340 runs at a strike rate of 151.78 in 14 matches.
“He would surely look to forget the last few innings and would look to start afresh in this fixture. So far, he has not done justice to his talent, as you can look in his stats. He has come at number four and not scored a single fifty. It is important that he does well, scores a half-century, and helps the team to win the game. If they reach the playoffs, all the batters need to be in good form. Apart from Mitchell Marsh, only Rovman Powell has scored a half-century,” Nikhil Chopra said.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Azharuddin believes Pant is not out of form because the batter is consistently getting 30-40 runs. He tells the 24-year-old cricketer to focus on turning his beginnings into huge ones in order to assist the team wins. Pant, on the other hand, was dismissed for 39 off 33.
“If the player gets out on 30-40, you cannot say he is out-of-form, but the reason in concentration lapse. He has not been able to capitalize on his starts, and he might be thinking quite ahead of the game. He is naturally a talented player and scores in a quick fashion in Tests, and it can be easy for him in the T20s. If he wants from me, I will tell him to concentrate on converting his starts into a big one,” Azharuddin said.
