`He’s a fantastic player, highly skilled, highly talented`: Marsh on Pant

Past not so perfect, present a mess, and future tense. That, in one sentence, has been Rishabh Pant’s cricketing journey at IPL-18.

After the elimination of Lucknow Super Giants from the IPL playoffs following a defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday night and the continued flop show by Pant, there is a cloud of uncertainty over his future, both immediate and long-term. The immediate concern is whether he would be picked as one of the wicketkeepers for India’s Test series in England next month. There are also murmurs of him being in the running for Test captaincy. These questions will be answered in the next few days when the selectors name the squad for the England tour. And that could determine how Pant’s career will pan out, both for India as well as LSG. There was a lot of excitement and optimism when Pant was picked by LSG for a record R27 crore as he was expected to turn things around for the franchise that had faltered under KL Rahul’s leadership last season. But things went from bad to worse as LSG have been knocked out with two matches in hand. To compound the misery, Pant has been pedestrian with the bat (see below graphic).

Despite this, the LSG management has backed him. He has been encouraged from all quarters and this is reflected in Mitchell Marsh’s comments at the post-match press conference on Monday. “He [Pant] would be the first to say that he hasn’t had the season he would’ve liked. From personal experience, that’s the way cricket goes sometimes. But we know he’s a fantastic player, highly skilled, highly talented. So, he’ll be back soon. Hopefully, in the last two games,” the Australian opener said. With only pride at stake and all the pressure blown away, it’s the right time for Pant to get back his mojo.

This article first appeared on Mid Day