‘If you look at Sachin Tendulkar’s career….,’ Sanjay Bangar believes Rishabh Pant could become the ‘Adam Gilchrist’ for India

Rishabh Pant is going through a rough patch right now, and it was evident from his below-par outings in the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa. The left-handed batter was overshadowed by the likes of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik in the middle order, and his place in the T20I squad has come under scrutiny. However, former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Bangar has an interesting option in place for struggling Rishabh Pant.

Sanjay Bangar believes Rishabh Pant could turn out to be a valuable option at the top of the order. He compared Pant’s struggles with that of batting great, Sachin Tendulkar who took about 70-odd games to register his first ODI century. However, that first ton arrived when he was promoted to the top of the order against New Zealand in the early 90s.

Sanjay Bangar stated that although Ishan Kishan’s current form is hard to overlook, yet Rishabh Pant could be a long-term option at the top of the order. “I’ve been thinking about it for 3 years. If you look at Sachin Tendulkar’s career, he hit his first century in his 75th or 76th innings when he was asked to open the innings against New Zealand after batting largely in the middle-order,” said Bangar on Star Sports.

Speaking further, Sanjay Bangar also drew parallels between former Australian wicket-keeper, Adam Gilchrist and Rishabh Pant. He believes that the Delhi-based batter could play the same role as Adam Gilchrist did for Australia for almost a decade.

“Right now, the Indian team is looking at a left-right combination. Yes, Ishan Kishan is doing good right now, but if the Indian team is eyeing a left-right opening pair for the long term, Rishabh Pant can do the same job that someone like Adam Gilchrist did for Australia,” Bangar continued.

Rishabh Pant had an underwhelming IPL season, and he has continued his poor form in the series against the Proteas. Now, the youngster will join the Test squad for the postponed final Test against England, which commences from July 1.