Opener Rishabh Pant will create fear among the bowlers: R Sridhar

The former fielding coach of the Indian team, R Sridhar, has reckoned that opting for Rishabh Pant as an opener can instil fear among the opposition's bowlers. 

In the second fixture of the ongoing T20I series against England, Pant made his way back to the line-up replacing Ishan Kishan. But, to everyone's surprise, the 24-year-old was slotted as an opener alongside skipper Rohit Sharma. 

Despite playing a new role, Pant looked comfortable from ball one and smashed the key bowlers of the England team. The talented batter delivered a knock of 26 off 15 balls, laced with four boundaries and a six, before being caught by Jos Buttler off the debutant Richard Gleeson.  

Pant's knock helped Men in Blue to score over 60 runs in the powerplay overs. 

Sridhar opined that the move to open with Pant could be a turning point for the Indian team, as we witnessed in 1994 in the case of Sachin Tendulkar. 

"Hopefully, it's going to be a watershed moment like it happened in 1994 when someone put Mr Tendulkar at the top," Sridhar said of Pant's promotion to the opening spot on Sony Sports Network. 

The 51-year-old reckoned it essential to have a left-hander at the top. He also said that a swashbuckling batter like Pant could pressurise the opposition right from the start.  

"I think to start with, a left-hander at the top is very, very important. He can make bowling ridiculously silly, and he will walk the talk like Rohit is doing," Sridhar said. 

In the end, the former fielding coach stated that the young wicket-keeper would be fearless with this attitude, which would trigger fear in the bowlers' minds. 

He also expected Pant's aggressive batting to make things easier for the non-strikers. 

"He will play the way he would want the team to play. He will put off the bowling unit. He will create fear, and all the bowlers will focus on him. It will open up the other end," the 51-year-old concluded. 

It will be interesting to see if Pant can convert his start into a big one in the final T20I on 10 July at Trent Bridge.