Former Indian wicket-keeper, Farokh Engineer, issued a straightforward message to Rishabh Pant ahead of the fourth Test at Old Trafford against England. Pant, renowned for his unconventional batting approach, played risky shots in the first three matches. However, Engineer encouraged Pant to save those aggressive strokes for the IPL. Engineer suggested that he should adopt a more disciplined approach to his batting, focusing on building his innings to score more consistently in red-ball cricket.

“Exactly, save those for IPL. Test cricket requires discipline. From someone batting at number three or four, you expect them to play proper cricket, score big, and build their innings,” he told RevSportz.

“He has the confidence and has often gotten away with it. However, he needs to be more responsible in key moments. He’s incredibly talented. He creates his own shots, and fortunately, helmets make that possible today. In our era, we wouldn’t have had any teeth left.”

Pant was unable to keep wickets for most of the third Test due to a finger injury. Engineer feels that Pant has the ability to feature in the playing XI as a specialist batter.

“Given the runs he’s made, yes, he can definitely play as a pure batter. But Rishabh is unpredictable. He just plays whatever comes to his mind. I joked with him about his shot choices, and he laughed, saying he simply does what feels right in the moment. Rishabh has scored centuries in both innings of a Test, which is quite an achievement. So, yes, he could feature purely as a batter,” he added.