India registered a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Mohali, thanks to some all-round performances from players like Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant. While Jadeja was the star of the win with a classy 175 not out followed by a nine-wicket haul in the match as he dominated proceedings. Pant, on the other hand, put on an impressive show with the bat in the first innings when he played a counter-attacking 96-run knock. However, another crucial role in the match was yet to follow. After India posted a mammoth 574-8 declared, Pant supported the bowlers brilliantly with his “improved” outing behind the stumps.
Talking to Cricbuzz.com, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik praised the improvement shown in Pant’s keeping.
“I think his batting is phenomenal and we can speak a lot about it. But I think the hallmark of this Test for him personally would be how well he kept. I think some of his catches, the Pathum Nissanka’s catch was a brilliant take, it was a hard one. Whenever an off-spinner bowls into the rough a little bit and the ball is turning in, it is a hard one to take because you never know which one is going to straighten and which one is going to turn in. And, on top of that, if it deviates off the bat, it becomes that much harder and that’s where I like Pant because his hands in the right place,” he said.
Talking about the technical changes, Karthik explained how Pant worked hard on his wicketkeeping abilities, especially while standing up to the spinners. Karthik highlighted the fact that Pant’s hard work off the field was paying dividends on it.
“When you practice close-in, you need to practice so much that your hands are in the right place. It needs to be second nature to you because you don’t have time to think. You need to have your instincts working better than people who do it in the outfield and for that, you need to put in X amount of hard work,” said Karthik.
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Pant took three brilliant catches in the second innings, two of which were off Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja’s bowling.
“You can see, the amount of work he has put off the field on his keeping is reflecting on it. Why he couldn’t do it before was obviously a technical flaw and over a period of time he has addressed it. And, he looked solid in this game and I liked both the catches he took – low and making sure the hands are soft,” he added.
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