Rishabh Pant is fearless and plays the most unusual cricketing shots but still has the best defence in the world, his former India teammate Ravichandran Ashwin reckons. The gloveman had a below-par Test series against Australia Down Under, scoring 255 runs in nine innings at 28.33, but showed glimpses of his past performances, with a quick-fire fifty in the final Test at the SCG.

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Reflecting on Pant’s outing on his third Australian tour, Ashwin, who announced his international retirement midway through the series, said the left-handed batter needs to make little amends to his game, and upon mastering that art, he can score hundreds for fun in each outing.

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Ashwin said the team needs to tell him what he must do in the middle, adding that although he failed to score runs and guide his team home against Australia this time, Pant is yet to realise his full potential.

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“We have to tell him properly what he has to do if he has to bat solid or bat with intent. He hasn't scored a lot of runs, but he didn't play like someone without runs. He has a lot of time on his hands. Rishabh Pant is yet to realise his fullest potential,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. 

“He has all the shots -- reverse sweep, slog sweep, everything -- but the problem is that all these shots are high-risk shots. With his defence, he will surely score runs every game if he faces 200 balls. 

"The point is finding that middle game. If he combines all of it, he will score 100 runs every game. He has to find that middle game," Ashwin continued.

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Ashwin recalls Pant’s SCG heroics

Among Pant’s few hundreds Down Under, one came at the SCG in 2019, when he slammed a stunning 159, guiding India home. That, however, was a thing of the past, but what remained with him this time was his grit to take on the mighty Aussies, which impressed Ashwin. 

Although the recently-retired cricketer lauded his second-inning knock (61 off 33 balls), Ashwin said people shouldn’t forget his first-inning heroics, where he suffered several blows to his body.

“I have always grown up hearing that you have fight it out. In Sydney, he played two different knocks in one single game. He got hit everywhere and scored a 40, it will be the least spoken innings of Rishabh Pant. It is very unfair.

"In the second innings, he scored a swashbuckling fifty, earning him a lot of praise. Everyone forgot that first inning and praised him for the second knock," Ashwin noted. 

Pant has to fight out in Tests

Having watched Pant grow as a cricketer since his Test debut, Ashwin said the India gloveman has the best defence in world cricket and shall be acknowledged. 

“We must realise that Rishabh Pant rarely gets out playing a defence. He's got one of the best defences in world cricket. Defence has become a challenging aspect, he has the best defence with a soft hand. 

"I have bowled to him a lot in the nets, he's not gotten out, he doesn't get an edge, he doesn't get LBW, he has the best defence. I have tried telling it to him. One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, he has to fight it out in Test cricket," Ashwin added. 

(With inputs from agencies)