Ravichandran Ashwin on Rishabh Pant: A Rare Tribute to a Unique Talent

Cricket players such as Rishabh Pant are unfathomably valuable in the Indian cricket world. That's why Ravichandran Ashwin doesn't often make a whole YouTube video about just one player, but for someone such as Pant, he made an exception. This person's talent for hitting amazing shots against the bowlers, and also being able to hang there when things get hard, is what makes him stand out.

This was exemplified in the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia, where Pant displayed both facets of his game. In the first innings, he scored a gritty 98-ball 40, followed by a scintillating 33-ball 61 in the second. While the second-innings blitz earned widespread acclaim, Ashwin reminded fans of the importance of Pant’s fighting knock in the first innings. “One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, and he needs to fight it out in Test cricket. I’ve always grown up hearing that you have to 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,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. The veteran spinner also hailed Pant as one of the best Test batters since the inception of the World Test Championship (WTC), a significant compliment in itself. Yet, Ashwin’s focus on Pant’s often-underrated defensive technique caught the most attention

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Ravi Ashwin talking about Rishabh Pant. 🇮🇳pic.twitter.com/gKp0YHnDD4

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 10, 2025

Pant’s Defence: An Underrated Asset

Ashwin said that Joe Root has been on another level when it comes to batting lately. Over the past seven years, batting's really changed. A Test cricket? It's apparently concentrated on how you handle the game moment by moment. After he scored a fantastic fifty in the second innings, everyone started cheering for him. They ended that awful first innings and just focused on how well he played the second time.Ashwin highlighted that Pant’s defence is among the best in world cricket, an attribute rarely discussed in Indian cricketing circles. “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 doesn’t get out; he doesn’t edge, and he doesn’t get LBW. He has the best defence. I have tried telling him this,” Ashwin said.

The Need for a Middle Ground

Ashwin said he's got all the moves, reverse sweep, slog sweep, every single one, but the catch is they're all unfathomably risky. He definitely has the skills to achieve many points every match if he can play 200 balls, without any difficulty. But what's really important is balancing it out. If he can combine it all, the individual is going to hit 100 runs every match, definitively.He just needs to think through that balanced play style.

Ashwin emphasized the importance of proper guidance for Pant to unlock his full potential.“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 concluded.

Rishabh Pant's spectacular mix of being aggressive and technically skilled makes him a very interesting player in world cricket. Ashwin's thoughts clearly show that there's still so much more potential in Pant's game that hasn't been fully used yet. If Pant manages to find just the right balance, he could reach even larger achievements in his Test career.Pant's manner of playing is bold and attracts a lot of attention but it's that combo of skills that keeps everyone watching him.

Rishabh Pant Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	43	75	5	2948	159*	42.11	4004	73.62	6	15	320	73	149	15
ODIs	31	27	1	871	125*	33.50	820	106.21	1	5	91	26	27	1
T20Is	76	66	14	1209	65*	23.25	950	127.26	0	3	111	44	40	11
FC	68	113	8	4868	308	46.36	5976	81.45	11	24	524	156	226	22
List A	67	61	5	1789	135	31.94	1713	104.43	2	11	184	58	70	11
T20s	202	191	33	5022	128*	31.78	3462	145.06	2	25	460	228	131	36