“I can’t imagine an Indian side without Rishabh Pant in it,” says former England batsman Ian Bell and calls the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman a “rare talent”, who played with a lot of maturity against the Englishmen recently.
Making a comeback into the Indian white-ball side, Pant was promoted to No. 4 and the 23-year-old did not disappoint. He scored two half-centuries in the two ODIs.
“I can’t imagine now an Indian side without him in it. It just feels like he’s the future and (he’s) around some world-class players as well,” Bell told ESPNCricinfo.
“We’ve seen a mature series and that’s quite rare at the moment for seeing someone playing like that.
“I think it’s a rare talent and this is just the start of him now having a successful career. Incredible to watch, a real match-winner,” Bell added.
The highly-rated Pant has been in incredible form across formats this year. He played match-winning knocks of 97 and unbeaten 89 in the third and the fourth Test against Australia to help India clinch the Border Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. He scored a century against England in the fourth Test, compelling the selectors to include him in the white-ball squads.
In the series-deciding third ODI on Sunday, which India won by seven runs, he was the top scorer with his 62-ball 78.
“He’s had a fantastic series, hasn’t he? Across all three formats. I saw a real calmness about him today. It’s not only high-risk, slogging or anything like that,” Bell said.
“Also, he gets off strike and rotates it. So I imagine that those bowlers at the end of their mark are thinking that if they get it slightly wrong, Pant does hurt them. “We’ve seen a maturity as this series has gone on. That Test match hundred again would have given him a lot of confidence,” he added.