India vs South Africa: Rishabh Pant was made India captain for the five-match T20I series against South Africa after KL Rahul was ruled out with injury.
Rishabh Pant has had a tough initiation to India captaincy, as he saw South Africa emerge victorious in the first two T20 Internationals in the ongoing five-match series. With Rohit Sharma rested, KL Rahul was set to lead India in the series, but a groin injury ruled the opener out and Pant was named skipper in his absence. However, the 23-year-old has come under criticism for some of his decisions and some below-par batting performances haven’t helped his case either.
Even in the third T20I, Pant failed to fire with the bat, but India managed to register a 48-run win to stay alive in the series.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that captaincy can sometimes take a toll on your own performances as a player is thinking more about performances of his teammates than his own.
“People expect that he will come along and start hitting the ball for the boundaries and sixes. That is something which because of what he has performed over the last three to four years, people have come to expect. Therefore there is the disappointment,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports about Rishabh Pant.
“But what he needs to do is introspect. What happens with the captaincy often is that you don’t think about your own game. You are thinking about the game of the others. So, you forget that there is some technical issue with your own batting. Or, the approach issue with the batting. That is what he is going to have to sit down,” Gavaskar said.
The legendary batter said that the win in the 3rd T20I on Tuesday would have come as a relief for Pant.
“He now has got two days. First and foremost he will feel lot better because India has won. That little bit of pressure is off. You still have to win the next two matches but the fact that India has won will give him relief for him to think about his own batting now,” Gavaskar said.
India and South Africa will now face off in the 4th T20I on Friday.
