Wellington: Senior Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan said Tuesday that rising wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has become an asset for the team due to his ability to change the course of a game in no time.
Pant, recently adjudged the ICC’s ‘Emerging Cricket of the Year’, returns to the side for the T20s against New Zealand starting Wednesday after being left out of the ODIs which India won 4-1.
“He (Pant) is an aggressive batsman, an asset for the team, can take away games from opposition in a very short time. I hope he grabs this opportunity (in T20s) with both hands,” Dhawan told reporters here.
Dhawan was not among the runs in the last three ODIs of the five-match series and was caught at third man off a rising ball here Sunday. Ahead of the opening T20, the southpaw was seen practising with a tennis ball to counter the bounce and swing that troubled the top-order in the previous two games. Dhawan explained how tennis ball drills help him.
“I do tennis ball drills mostly for bouncers, for my muscle memory as well. I feel, if keep hitting the same shot, I get better at it. When facing bowlers or throw downs, it is not possible to feed the ball in one place at all times, therefore, tennis ball practice comes in handy,” Dhawan pointed out.
“But after you go back to facing the leather ball, it feels someone is throwing stones at you. Today while we were doing the tennis ball drill, we were also doing it to counter swing,” Dhawan added.
PTI
