Engineer: Can you drop Pant for World Cup?
MUMBAI:RISHABH Pant might have created a new record for an Indian wicket keeper by taking 11 catches in a Test in Australia, but former stumper Farokh Engineer says he has a lot of technical problems in his primary job, while praising the left hander’s batting heroics.
Pant’s flamboyant batting impressed Engineer so much that he wondered how the Indian selectors can afford to leave him out in favour of the seasoned Dhoni for this year’s World Cup in England.
“Question is, for the World Cup will you pick Dhoni? How can you drop Pant? He’s done so well. These are the questions for the selectors,” said Engineer at a talk show at the Cricket Club of India here Wednesday evening. “I don’t want to sound harsh. Give him time. He (Pant) will improve. I wish I could have a couple of times with him to make him a good wicket keeper,” he said.
Engineer said Pant reminds him of his young days. “His approach is same as MS Dhoni’s. But don’t praise him sky-high at the moment. Encourage him. (But) He’s technically so incorrect,” said the one-time flamboyant wicket keeper .
Explaining further, Engineer said Pant snatches the ball, gets up too early and does not move his feet. “A good wicket keeper moves his feet, goes to the ball and does not dive all the time; uses his feet all the time,” the Mumbaiborn stumper of the 1960s and 1970s said.
“He’s young he will learn from mistakes. Wicket- keeping is not taught, it’s a natural thing. He has to iron out certain elementary things. I love his approach, but the way he got out in the first Test when India were in trouble,” he said. “He got out to a stupid shot. If he had done that in our time he would not have played another Test. But he buckled down later.”