Legendary South African bowler Dale Steyn isn’t an unknown name. His name is etched in gold letters all throughout cricket history. He’s had an extremely prolific career with the ball. Known for his lethal swing and speed, Dale Steyn currently commentates at a lot of matches.
Recently in an interview, Dale Steyn was asked about the current form of Indian wicketkeeper-batsman and fill-in captain Rishabh Pant. To this, Steyn responded by pointing out that even if Pant’s captaincy is improving, we mustn’t get all jovial about it, as the price of good captaincy can be easily seen in his batting stature. The youngster is no longer the master batter he used to be and is merely a shadow of his former past. According to Steyn, these are key aspects that Pant needs to work on.
Dale Steyn pointed out that in the last few matches, Rishabh Pant hasn’t been on his usual form and is clearly struggling to bat and fight a long inning. Pant has shown his mettle in the past in all formats, and yet, he’s only made a total of 57 runs in the last four games that he has come out to bat. Steyn opined that Pant needs to step on the gear and return to his former aggressive self if he wants to continue playing for the Indian team.
Dinesh Karthik was brought up by Dale Steyn in the interview. The latter talked about how DK managed to rise back up even after facing intense criticism, backlash, and competition. His age makes matters worse and yet the veteran is winning matches for India, the same way he won matches for RCB in the IPL. Steyn believed Pant should follow in DK’s footsteps and learn to bat fearlessly like he used to do earlier.
In the ongoing series against South Africa, the men in blue are being led by Rishabh Pant as the stand-in captain for the series KL Rahul pulled out of the series due to a groin injury. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have both been rested, giving young Pant the chance to pick up the mantle of team India. In the four matches that have been played, India lost the first two but made a fierce comeback in the third and fourth ones, leveling the series.
