Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin praised wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s fielding techniques after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 season. Pant endured a series of inconsistent batting, scoring just 255 runs at an average of 28.33.
The southpaw managed to score just one half-century in nine innings despite several strong starts. Still, Pant showed his versatility in the final Test in Sydney, hitting 40 off 98 balls and 61 off 33 balls in the first and second innings, respectively, in a very difficult bat.
Ashwin praised Pant’s fielding skills on his YouTube channel and felt that his one-inning 40 hits amidst a two-innings onslaught unfairly drew him less attention.
“We have to realize that Rishabh Pant rarely plays defense. He is one of the best defenders in world cricket. Defense has become a difficult aspect, but he has soft hands and play the best defense I’ve bowled to him so many times, ‘Nets, he’s not out, he doesn’t have the edge, he doesn’t have the LBW, the best I’ve tried to tell him. Having a defenseman meant he was making a lot of plays. Once he hits the shots, he has to compete in Test cricket,” he said.
Ashwin added:
“I’ve always grown up hearing stories about how you battled through. In Sydney, he played two different knocks in one match. He was hit everywhere and scored 40 runs. For Rishabh Pant It was a very good match.” In the second innings he scored an unfair fifty and everyone forgot the first innings and praised his second knock. ”
Ashwin played alongside Pant for Team India for several years and recently retired midway through the Australia series.
Pant, on the other hand, boasts impressive Test numbers with an average of over 42 and around 3,000 runs in 43 matches.
“Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential” – Ravichandran Ashwin
![Pant spoiled several starts with a series of reckless shots against Australia. [Source: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/01/a6009-17364483593498-1920.jpg)
Ravichandran Ashwin believes Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential with the bat. He called on the wicketkeeper-batsman to work on finding the ideal balance between defense and attack.
Despite some heroics in the past, Pant was heavily criticized for his premature dismissal during the Australian series for taking a reckless shot.
“We have to tell him exactly what he has to do, whether he has to bat solidly or with purpose. He has scored a lot of runs. But he wasn’t playing like a clean sheet player. He has a lot of time.”Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential,” Ashwin said. spoke.
He concluded:
“He has all kinds of shots like reverse sweeps, slog sweeps, but the problem is that all of those shots are high-risk shots. He’s going to score every game. The key is finding it.” If you put all that midfield game together, he’s going to score 100 points every game. ”
Pant played a major role in India’s successive Test series wins in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
However, following a below-average performance in recent series, India lost 3-1 and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.
Edited by Arshit Garg
