‘Save those…’: Rishabh Pant gets BOLD warning from former Indian star ahead of Manchester Test

“Save those (shots) for IPL. Test cricket demands discipline. From a number three or four, you expect them to play proper cricket, get big scores, and build innings,” he told RevSportz.

“He has the confidence and has gotten away with it often. But he needs to be more responsible in crucial moments, like right before lunch or at the end of a day’s play. Still, he’s immensely talented. He invents his own shots, and thankfully, helmets allow that now. In our time, we wouldn’t have had any teeth left,” he added.

Rishabh Pant did not do his wicketkeeping duties for the most of the third Test as he suffered a finger injury. However, Farokh believes that Pant can make it to the playing XI as a pure batter as well.

“For the runs he’s scored, yes, he can play as a pure batter. But Rishabh is unpredictable. Whatever comes to his mind, he does it. I joked with him about his shot selection, and he just laughed—said he does what feels right in the moment. Rishabh has scored centuries in both innings of a Test, which is remarkable. So yes, he could play purely as a batsman, especially with England’s strong bowling lineup, now including Jofra Archer and (Gus) Atkinson,” Engineer said.