Rohit Sharma hails game-changer Rishabh Pant, says his keeping in Sri Lanka series was best he has seen

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has lavished praise on wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant after his heroics in the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka at home. India thrashed Sri Lanka 2-0 in the two-match series to register their 15th straight Test series win at home. While Pant produced a brilliant show with the bat, he was also exceptional behind the stumps.

Pant had faced intense criticism from all corners after his cheap dismissal against South Africa in the Johannesburg Test earlier this year. Pant had stepped out and played an unwanted shot against pacer Kagiso Rabada at the start of his innings to get caught.

However, the left-hander made a strong comebackwith a century in the Cape Town Test and continued his purple patch in the two-match series against Sri Lanka. Pant slammed a brilliant 96-run-knock in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali and followed it up with scores of 39 and 50 runs in the second Test in Bengaluru.

Pant also smashed the fastest fifty by an Indian batter in Tests as he notched up his half-century off just 28 balls in the second Test. He broke the legendary Kapil Dev's 40-year-od record with his dashing knock and also earned praise from many, including Indian skipper Rohit.

While Rohit insisted that he wants Pant to continue playing his natural attacking game, the Indian skipper said Pant has been told that he would have to curtail his natural instincts and play as per the situation whenever the team requires.

"His batting is his batting. We know how he bats and as a team we just want to give him that freedom to bat in the way that he wants to bat. But also keeping in mind certain situations of the game, where the game is going, we have also conveyed that to him, but we want to stick with his game plan as a team. It just seems to get better and get better - his game plans," said Rohit in the press conference post the conclusion of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka.

"There will be times when you will smash your head and say 'why did he play that shot' but again we need to be ready to accept that with him when he bats. And he is somebody who can change the game in 40 minutes," he added.

While highlighting his batting heroics, Rohit also heaped praise on Pant's wicket-keeping and said his keeping in the Sri Lanka series was the best he has seen from the left-hander.

"And the most significant factor of his in this series was his keeping. His keeping was best that I have seen. He kept well when England came last year and he seems to get better every time he keeps wickets for India, so that is something that I have been very impressed with," Rohit said.