Indian captain for the South Africa T20s Rishabh Pant is struggling for runs. He came into the T20 series following a bad season with bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). In the first 3 T20s vs South Africa, Pant has scored 29, 5 and 6 respectively. The runs however are not a worry, his state of mind is. Pant has never looked at ease playing the shots and found himself on wrong foot on various occasions. There is no clarity in his thought while batting which is clearly visible. Former Indian batter and cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar feels it is time for the wicketkeeper and batter to do an introspection. 


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Gavaskar feels that as a captain, sometimes as a batter you are not focussing on your own game and that leads to your fall. He says that Pant needs to sit down and think about his batting. Are there any technical shortcomings which is leading to his fall? And before the 4th T20 vs South Africa, he should sit and introspect his own batting, rather than thinking about others' game. 



Gavaskar said that Pant will be relieved by India's win over SA on the 3rd T20 and that will make him feel a lot better. "First and foremost, he will feel a lot better that India have won. So that little bit of pressure is off. It will give him a little bit of relief and he has got to think about his batting now," Gavaskar said after the match on Star Sports.


Giving more insights into what Pant needs to do while introspecting, he said, "He must think 'I am getting out hitting deliveries. It is not coming in my arc. I have even moved outside off stump and yet I am not able to do that. So now what do I do? Do I try to make my off-side shots better? Do I have to only look at playing on the on-side? Can I use my power and my timing? Can I start hitting it straight? Or should I hit over extra cover?' And that's the danger part because that is where you slice the ball. And so unless you really hit it well, you are going to be caught in the deep. Hit the ball straight and he will still get the sixes."


India won the 3rd T20 vs South Africa by 48 runs, all thanks to a top-class effort from the bowlers, especially Yuzvendra Chahal (3 wickets) and Harshal Patel (4 wickets). India had lost the first 2 T20s by 7 amnd 4 wickets respectively and need to win the remaining 3 games to clinch the series. The 4th T20 is to be played on 17 June at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot before the T20 action moves to Bengaluru for the fifth and last T20I.