Pant has the temperament for Test cricket: Dravid

Will Rishabh Pant be able to adjust in Test cricket? Was the question on everyone’s mind when the Delhi stumper earned his maiden India call-up for the five-match Test series against England. “He will adjust. He has the temperament and skills to bat differently,” came the answer from India A coach Rahul Dravid.

Will Rishabh Pant be able to adjust in Test cricket? Was the question on everyone’s mind when the Delhi stumper earned his maiden India call-up for the five-match Test series against England. “He will adjust. He has the temperament and skills to bat differently,” came the answer from India A coach Rahul Dravid.

Despite Pant’s outlook of an out and out aggressor, Dravid believes he has it in him to don the gloves for India in Test matches. With MS Dhoni’s recent form or the lack of it and Wriddhiman Saha’s multiple injury woes, the focus is back on wicket-keeping, which surely wasn’t the topic of a tea-table discussion in Indian cricket even a year ago.

Pant is no stranger to international cricket. He has been pitted as Dhoni’s successor in limited overs format for more than a year now. But never was he a contender for the Test job, especially when Saha had made it his own after Dhoni’s walked in the shade. It was his recent knocks for India A – a hat-trick of fifties against West Indies A and England Lions that brought him into contention.

“We are glad that he has been picked in the national team and I hope he takes this maturity and builds from thereon," Dravid said.

Dravid has seen Pant mature since his U-19 days. The former India captain states there’s more than what meets the eye when it comes to Pant’s batting approach. "He is always going to be an attacking player but reading of the situation when one is playing red ball cricket is required. Rishabh has shown that he could bat differently,” Dravid said.

In the three half-centuries that Pant scored in England, two of them came at an 80+ strike rate but the other one – the one that impressed Dravid the most was a 111-ball 58 in the first innings against England Lions, where his four teammates went back without troubling the scorers.

"On this trip, we challenged him a lot to bat according to the situation. He got a critical 64 not out in the One-Day tri-series final (England Lions) when he was the last recognised batsman.

"And also against West Indies A, he put on a 100 run partnership with Jayant Yadav (in successful fourth innings run chase)," Dravid said, putting his weight firmly behind the southpaw.

Pant, however, will not start as India’s stumper in the Test series – Dinesh Karthik is the first choice wicket-keeper - but with five Tests in hand and the nature of an England tour, a Test debut for the Delhi youngster is not wishful thinking at all.