The Indian team finally succeeded in stopping the winning streak of South Africa by defeating it in the third T20I by 48 runs. The match was played yesterday at Dr. Y.S.R. ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, and this was the first win for Rishabh Pant as a skipper.
Well, Rishabh Pant has been touted as a very special player by many former cricketers and on some occasions especially in test matches, he has performed in an exemplary manner too but he hasn’t been able to make a big impact in the short formats. Pant’s performance in the IPL 2022 was not very good and even questions were raised on his captaincy on couple of occasions.
The former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev under whose leadership India won the first ODI World Cup in 1983 feels that Rishabh Pant needs to work more on his skills because he is getting tough competition from Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and now also from Dinesh Karthik who has made a comeback after 3 years. DK compelled the selectors to include him in the team by performing superbly in the IPL 2022 for his team Royal Challengers Bangalore and it won’t be wrong to say that he played the role of a finisher to a very good extent.
In an interview, Kapil Dev states that if we talk about wicket-keeping and he has to choose one from four of them (Pant, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and DK), all of them seem equal to him. He adds that though Ishan, Samson and Pant are more explosive batters yet on any given day, all four can win a match for their team.
He goes on to say that the number one choice for India’s T20 team might be Rishabh Pant but in terms of consistency, Dinesh Karthik is far ahead of Samson, Pant and Ishan Kishan. Kapil Dev is full of praises for DK as he says that undoubtedly Pant is a youngster and he has a lot of cricket left in him but Karthik has huge experience, he started playing before MS Dhoni and he is still playing.
Talking about Wriddhiman Saha, the former Indian cricketer says that he may be a wicketkeeper among all of them but he lacks in the batting department. Kapil Dev is pretty upset with Sanju Samson as he feels that despite being very talented, he is not doing justice to his talent because he performs well in one or two matches and then he does nothing.
As far as match is concerned, toss was won by the visitors and they chose to bowl first. India started well as both the openers – Ruturaj Gaikwad (57 runs, 35 balls, 7 fours & 2 sixes) and Ishan Kishan (54 runs, 35 balls, 5 fours & 2 sixes) produced a partnership of 97 runs for the first wicket and helped their team in putting up a total of 179/5 on the score board. In response, the Proteas were wrapped up by the Indian bowlers at the score of 131 and the Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 3/20 in his 4 overs.
The fourth T20I will be played on 17th June at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium which is also popular as Khandheri Cricket Stadium, Rajkot, India.
What do you think of Kapil Dev’s opinion? Do you agree with him? Let us know.
