"Responsibility Personified": Sanjay Manjrekar In Awe Of Hard-Hitting India Batter
Sanjay Manjrekar brushed aside concerns about Rishabh Pant and said he has "always been responsible" but sometimes "seems irresponsible" because of his attacking strokeplay.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: July 20, 2022 12:35 pm IST
The whole cricket world is going gaga over Rishabh Pant. The Indian Cricket Team star scored an unbeaten 125 off 113 balls in the third ODI against England on Sunday to take the team to a 2-1 series win. Following his match-winning knock against England, Pant has become the first Asian wicketkeeper-batter to register a century in both Tests and ODI on English soil. Pant's ton and his 133-run partnership with Hardik Pandya helped India chase down 260 in the final ODI of the three-match series in Manchester and win the series 2-1. England were bundled out for 259 thanks to brilliant spells from Hardik Pandya (4/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/60). Jos Buttler (60), Jason Roy (41) and Moeen Ali (34) played some crucial knocks for the hosts.
The knock by Pant impressed former Indian cricket team player Sanjay Manjrekar too.
"No, he's always responsible. He may seem irresponsible sometimes when he gets out, when he gets out playing one of those kinds of shots, we've got to look at it as somebody getting out at slips because the game has changed and that is Rishabh Pant's primary sort of skill. He's got to sound different but when he extends himself, he tries these shots," Manjrekar said on Sports18's daily sports news show.
"The winning runs for example, it's a part of his basic attacking, array of shots that he has. So, responsibility wise I think this guy is just incredible because of the kind of record he has in Test cricket. You can't play those kind of shots if you are not responsible by nature, wanting to win the game and in this one day as well you could see him. He was responsibility personified; he was calmness personified. I got very excited watching Rishabh Pant because there's something about this country, that we keep producing these kinds of batters every generation."