Don’t try to make a shirt out of Pant.

You can tell when a cricketer is being hunted - be it by his own demons or those belonging to the system and its hunting dogs.

The system, what’s that? It’s most of us really. From the chorus of Dhoni! Dhoni! whenever Pant slips, to Head coach, Ravi Shastri going public with his criticism of Pant’s approach or lack thereof.

To Sanjay Manjrekar, who has made no bones of airing his displeasure on commentary while watching Pant bat – in the first T20, when Pant lifted a slow bouncer over the keeper’s head for four, Manjrekar fixated on the lack of grace in the shot. Forget batting, Manjrekar wants Pant to work on his ballet.

But these are opinions, of common people, of those in team management and of those in air.

And there’s only one way for Pant to shut them all up, and it’s down to one of his coach’s favourite clichés – he has to make his bat do the talking.

Till recently, in the build-up to this season’s IPL, Rishabh Pant was to the manor born. He was the face of choice, the daredevil who took on Kohli and Dhoni in somewhat audacious ads. It obviously did give him some entitlement – you have to be inhuman to not feel elevated taking on Kohli and Dhoni, albeit in ads.

But that was that. And starting with those cheeky ads, things started to go downhill. Pant had had a spectacular 2018 season – 2019 paled in comparison. More so, as the expectations were far more, and he was now a key player in the mix, perhaps his franchise’s most vital batsman.

While Pant was still striking at 162, he was down from 173 in 2018 -  488 runs in 16 matches, down from 684 in 14. Averaging 37.5, down from  52.6.

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It didn’t take much to hurl a comparison with Dhoni at Pant. Pant wasn’t competing with himself, he was up against Dhoni lore.

In one over, man of the match, Mushfiqur Rahim was LBW twice – it’s just that India failed to review. But where does the mind travel to – Dhoni of course. Dhoni the champion, tactical reviewer – the man who Kohli turns to, the man who makes the final call with the slightest of pokerfaced nods.

Instead, here was India, with Pant. So what if captain, Rohit Sharma was at first slip, and Yuzvendra Chahal was bowling.

Rohit, 32, with 99 T20Is. Chahal, 29, with 32 T20Is. Pant? Pant, 22 last month, 21 T20Is.

Add to that, an uncertain Pant, when asked by his captain about an edge, answered in the affirmative – review lost.

But before all this was Pant the batsman – and before that were two batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul striking below 100.

But somehow both Manjrekar and Gavaskar decided to be highly vocal in blaming Pant for Dhawan’s run out.

That very Dhawan who had earlier in the innings blindly sauntered for a non-existent single, only to jog back like a senior citizen. That very Dhawan who had hijacked the innings till the 15^th over, for a mind-numbing 41(42). That very Dhawan who continues to rake in T20s because of his ODI reputation. That very Dhawan who last scored a half century 12 T20I innings back.

But also that very Dhawan who notched five 50s in IPL ’19 – and can be a one-man army in winning tournaments.

Meanwhile, best not to forget, that this was still the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch. You can call the stadium what you want, but this pitch was Kotla all the way.

Misread the pace, think it’s an imposter and you’ll be fooling yourself.

In the end, Rishabh Pant batted with the knowledge that a headmaster’s ruler isn’t far from his fingertips. He also batted with the same knowledge as KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan did before him – this is the Kotla. Far too many teams, Delhi Daredevils especially, have been knocked over for sub 100 scores here. To aim for 120-130, and then go all out in the last few with wickets in hand is possibly the best way forward.

Shreyas Iyer did what he often does at the Kotla – go at the spinners. But even he fell to a spinner.

Finally, Pant finished with three 4s, the most by an Indian batsman, his strike rate was just a shade over 100.

Even VVS Laxman who rarely if ever criticizes any Indian batsman felt Pant needs to work on his singles early on.

It may not be wrong to say, here at least, he learns from the best in the business – Dhoni, who else.

Or is everyone too blind-sighted to see the dot-ball collective at the start of a Dhoni innings?

But no, when Dhoni does it, it’s with the knowledge that he will accelerate later on. When Pant does it, even if it’s the Kotla, it’s just a free for all for meme wallahs.

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Players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya could well be easy targets for the media. But each one still has the wherewithal to be a once in a generation limited overs’ player.  More so, T20 masters.

India sadly lacks such players – over the years, they have embraced ODI batsmanship far more readily, possibly because the very format is an ode to the Dhoni and Kohli schools of cricket.

T20 however, much as it can be programmed, also demands something far more impulsive, almost manic. Surely not in all 6-7 batsmen, but having the oddball Mad Max is where you toast the very format.

And Ravi boss, you can’t throw caution to the winds without factoring in failure. Accepting the latter will help you tap into the best of your players. Unless you want all your batsmen to bat like each other.

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India and Delhi Capitals will be best served not to try and make a shirt out of Pant. Isn’t it obvious, he was not meant to be top half material. As they say, the fun starts when Pant comes down.

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Is it too early to write about Krunal Pandya?

Or to write him off?

To know Krunal better, perhaps we could attempt to know India’s Twenty20 cricket better – Krunal made his T20 international debut a few months back, in November 2018. He’s played nine games so far.

Dinesh Karthik, now considered to be India’s T20 finisher has played 30 games. Over 12 years back, he played in India’s first T20 game. That was then the 10^th T20 international being played.

The third T20 of the New Zealand series on February 10, 2019 was the 738^th game.

Rohit Sharma, the top T20 run getter, has played 93 games. Rohit did not play in India’s first T20 game. Tendulkar, Sehwag and Raina did. That’s how long ago it was.

Dhoni was the captain then. He would go on to lead India to victory in the first ICC World Twenty20 in 2007. Neither Tendulkar, Sehwag nor Raina featured in that final.

The evolution of a T20 team calls for brutal selections.

From that glorious Indian team of 2007, only Dhoni and Rohit remain.

It’s only in the last few years that India has balanced its significant ODI diet with more T20s. In doing this, it has grappled with acknowledging how ODI and T20 cricket are vastly different –  and require different skills and possibly different selections. While the transformation to picking lean IPL squads has been far swifter, India’s T20 unit has taken long to shed its excess ODI weight.

Where patience and building an innings are a virtue in ODIs, they are a luxury few can ill afford in T20s.

Where in the longer formats, bits and pieces players are exposed, a few overs of glory, make headlines and careers out of players.

It is still early days in Krunal Pandya’s international career. Yet it’s likely, he will continue to be a T20 selection – as much for his own skills, as for the lack of overall T20 skills of other candidates.

So, who are these other candidates?

Ravindra Jadeja – last played a T20 for India in 2017. In his 40 games, he batted only 18 times. Mostly at 7 and 8, with a strike rate less than 100, an average less than 10. The sample size is small and it’s possibly Jadeja’s lack of impact as a bowler as much as Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal’s ascent, that saw him lose out.

Jadeja’s economy is just a shade over 7, but it’s his 31 wickets off 40 games at a much higher strike rate that go against him – 26 to Kuldeep’s 11 and Chahal’s 15.

Kuldeep Yadav already has 35 wickets from 18 games at an economy of 6.72. Chahal has 45 wickets from 29 (economy 7.9) – while neither Yadav nor Chahal have any batting skills of note, it’s as much the attacking bowling option as their ODI rise that has nudged out both Jadeja and Ashwin.

R Ashwin’s 52 wickets from 46 games (economy 6.97) meant he too last played in 2017. Incidentally, both Ashwin and Jadeja last turned up in a T20I on July 9, 2017 – both ended wicketless, one went for 39 off his 4, the other 41 off 3.3 overs.

West Indies chased down 190 with nine wickets and two Indian spinners in hand.

There has been the brief flirtation with Axar Patel, but he mostly played against Zimbabwe when the mainstay was rested. 11 games, 9 wickets; batting mostly at 7 and 8, his numbers saw him last turn up for India close to a year ago.

Once upon a time, there was the Yusuf Pathan option – he too batted lower down, mostly at 6, 7 and 8 and was at best a part-time bowling option – bowling his full quota in seven of the 17 innings he turned his arm over. Yusuf opened the innings with Gambhir in that first World T20 Final. That was also his first T20I match.

The last time he turned up, the rain impacted both the match and his career. He did not bat, India lost to Duckworth Lewis in 7.1 overs, close to seven years ago.

Which brings us to Krunal Pandya. Elder brother of chat-show Pandya.

And significantly, part of a champion IPL team, the Mumbai Indians. (with so many coaches going, he can only hone his all-round skills)

Krunal turns 28 next month. He’s played just three First Class games so far. However, he’s heaved it in 71 T20s. He made his T20 debut six years back.

In the Hamilton decider, Krunal’s bowling was mauled for 53 runs. It seemed to be predictable hit-me bowling – but then, whenever any bowling is slaughtered, you don’t ask if it halal or jhatka. Either way, it’s slaughtered. And appears clueless, bereft of thought, variations, guile.

Krunal has a bowling economy of 8.72 rpo (almost identical to Yusuf’s). It’s a small sample size, but on evidence, his bowling (not unlike Jadeja’s in T20s and ODIs) does lack imagination – there is a sameness in speed, trajectories, lengths. Once a batsman has his measure, expect an all-out attack.

Which is where the wicket-gifts can happen. Just the other day, his 3/28 gifted him the Man of the match.

Such is the nature of the format that Krunal will have the occasional good days with the ball. To expect him to be the 5^th bowler though is a bridge too far. It’s better if he starts as the sixth bowler and splits those four overs with another part-timer.

India was 145/6 after 15.2 overs when Dhoni fell. Kartik and Krunal, the last of the hitting ammunition dump. Krunal added 26(13).

Had India played a bowler instead of Krunal, India’s chase would’ve stopped after Dhoni’s wicket. Question is, would India’s target have been far less?

While Krunal has batted in only four innings for India (strike rate 156.81), it’s his batting numbers in domestic cricket that have pushed him to where he is – here too, his batting average of 27 and strike rate of 147 is uncannily similar to that of Yusuf Pathan’s. There are eight years between the two, but both play for Baroda.

Both are brothers of more illustrious fast bowling all-rounders; both pegged to be the next Kapil Dev.

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Numbers aside, it’s Krunal Pandya’s obvious hitting ability. It appears to run in the Pandya blood. As too the cricketing smarts.

Only last year in Australia, after being walloped for 55 in Brisbane, he plugged it to just 26 two days later in Melbourne, and helped India square the series with a Man of the match haul in Sydney.  

For now, it might be best not to underestimate Krunal. If there’s a single to be taken, take it. The tail starts after him, not with him.

Then again, this could be a duel best viewed in a KKR vs MI match.

You can bet it will be hyped no end. Expect Krunal to add little to the hype though. He’s not much for a chat.

First published here

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