When he reached close to the dugout after producing another cameo, frustration was clearly written on Rishabh Pant’s helmetless face. He was upset with himself for playing the shot resulted in his dismissal — the reverse sweep. Not the first time Pant was dismissed when trying the shot. Bangladesh leg-spinner Rishad Hossain was the beneficiary on Saturday after Pant hit the ball to short third-man. Two days ago, another leggie Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan celebrated when Pant’s reverse sweep didn’t come off and he was trapped leg-before wicket.
Should Pant continue to play the reverse sweep?
Unpredictability is what has made Pant an X-factor at No.3 for the Indian team at the T20 World Cup. But the reverse sweep has become a double edged sword for Pant, especially against the spinners.
Against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Pant had got a start — 20 off 11 and 36 off 24 — when he was dismissed and missed out on extending his cameo to a statement innings. But to be fair to him, Pant is a batsman who lives by the sword and dies by it.
According to reports, he has also been practicing the reverse sweep a lot at training sessions during the T20 World Cup, so it is a shot he has put a lot of effort and thought into. He gone for it with or against the spin. In the game against Afghanistan, he had smashed off-spinner Mohammed Nabi for a boundary using the reverse sweep. Like Rashid’s delivery that dismissed him, the ball from Nabi was also full but Pant’s quick bat speed quelled the threat. Nabi also had a catcher behind square in the circle. Pant, however, placed the stroke away from him. So it is not that Pant can’t pull it off. Hossain had tossed up the ball a wee bit, but Pant couldn’t get the elevation he was looking for.
His most famous reverse hit was against England fast bowler James Anderson three years ago in the Ahmedabad Test. Pant was on 89 when leaned away to make room and hit the new-ball over the slip cordon. It was a premeditated stroke, like the ones he has played with the spinners in the on-going T20 World Cup.
Currently, the reverse sweep is a high-risk shot for him. Maybe, Pant could play it a little later in his innings, after he has maximised the damage he is capable of. Asking him to shelve it completely would curb his shot-making freedom — the essence of his batting.
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