“Has one of the best defenses in world cricket” – Ravichandran Ashwin hails Team India batsman after BGT 2024-25

Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hailed wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s defensive technique after the conclusion of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pant endured an inconsistent series with the bat, scoring just 255 runs at an average of 28.33.

The southpaw scored just one half-century in nine innings despite getting off to a good start on several occasions. More, Pant he showed his versatility in the final Test in Sydney with a 98-ball 40 and a 33-ball 61 in the first and second innings, on an extremely demanding batting wicket.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin hailed Pant’s defensive skills and felt that his first innings 40 unfairly went under the radar amid his second innings onslaught.

“We have to understand that Rishabh Pant rarely gets away with playing defence. He has one of the best defenses in world cricket. Defense has become a challenging aspect, he has the best soft-handed defence. I have bowled him a lot in the nets, he doesn’t get away, he doesn’t get an advantage, he doesn’t get LBW, he has the best defense I tried to say One opinion about Rishabh was that he plays a lot of shots, he has to fight in Test cricket,” he said.

Ashwin added:

“I always grew up hearing that you battled. In Sydney he played two different knocks in one game. He was hit everywhere and he scored 40, it will be Rishabh Pant’s least mentioned innings. He is very In the second innings he scored an incredible 50, earning many kudos for that first inning second knock.”

Ashwin he played with Pant in the India team for several years and recently retired in the middle of the Australian series.

Pant, meanwhile, boasts impressive Test numbers with nearly 3,000 runs at an average of over 42 in 43 outings.

“Rishabh Pant is yet to realize his full potential” – Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential with the bat. He urged the goalkeeper striker to work on finding the ideal balance between defense and attack.

Despite his few heroic efforts in the past, Pant was heavily criticized for his premature dismissals while playing rash shots during the Australia series.

“We have to tell him properly what he has to do if he has to bat solidly or with intent. He hasn’t scored a lot of runs but he hasn’t played like someone who doesn’t have runs. He has a lot of time on his hands. Rishabh Pant is yet to reach his full potential,” Ashwin said .

He concluded:

“He’s got all the shots—the reverse shot, the fastball, everything—but the problem is that all of those shots are high-risk. With his defense, he’s bound to score runs every game if he faces 200 balls. The point is to find If all he combines that, he will score 100 runs in every game.

Pant played a big role in the of India back-to-back Test series wins in Australia in 2018/19. and 2020/21.

However, its sub-pair displays u recent series meant India suffered a 1-3 defeat to hand the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.