Rishabh Pant batting at No.6 in England a place too high: Nasser Hussain

• Shubham
• 20 July, 2021

Follow Us

By: Shubham Ghosh

FORMER England captain Nasser Hussain believes India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant coming into bat at No.6 in the forthcoming Test series against the Three Lions may be one place too high.

The explosive batsman, who is currently in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, has been in great form across formats but failed to impress in India’s last game against New Zealand in Southampton, which was also the final of the World Test Championship. Pant scored four and 41 in the two innings at No.6 in that game which India lost by eight wickets because of poor batting performance in both essays.

ALSO READ: India keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant ‘on way to recovery’ after testing Covid positive

Speaking to Daily Mail, Hussain, a commentator and analyst now, also spoke on whether India could afford to play two spinners in the five-game series if the pitches are not flat.

“Of what I have seen of India, if England can get a par score in the first innings, with the seam-bowling resources they have, then they should be confident. Rishabh Pant at six in England is one place too high. India will have to find a new opener as Shubman Gill has been ruled out and can they afford to pick Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin if the ball is moving around? If they play on flat, belting pitches they can,” the 53-year-old Hussain, who was born in India’s Madras (now Chennai), said.

Pant, who made his Test debut during India’s last tour of England in 2018 and scored a hundred in that series, has played 21 matches so far to score 1,403 runs. He has played 14 innings in 12 matches at No.6 and scored 580 runs at an average of 44.61 with the best of 101 not out which he scored against England in a home series earlier this year. He also has scored four fifties batting at No.6 in Tests.

Sources told ANI news agency that Pant can join the rest of the squad which was playing County Championship XI in Durham ahead of the first Test starting at Old Trafford on August 4 once he received the results of the Covid tests conducted on Monday.