639Views

Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg shared that wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be India's first-choice wicket-keeper across formats in the future but as of now he needs a mind coach to help him with his decision-making skills.

"For me, if you looking at wicket-keepers, Pant would keep in Test cricket, KLRahul for shorter formats. Wriddhiman Saha is going to be a very good back-up keeper. But Pant, in the next two-three years, Pant will be keeping in all three formats," Hogg said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.

The Australian added, "He is going to be the main man. But for him to improve his cricket, he needs to get a mind coach, a bit like Steve Smith and David Warner, it will help him make those right decisions in all those crucial moments,"

Rishabh Pant. Brad Hogg and Wriddhiman Saha  Pant
Rishabh Pant. Brad Hogg and Wriddhiman Saha (Picture credits: The Cricket Fever)

With MS Dhoni’s absence from the circuit for the past one year, Rishabh Pant became the first choice keeper across the format. However, his poor form with the bat as well as keeping gloves witnessed his exclusion from the side. 

While Rahul preferred behind the stumps in white-ball cricket, Saha replaced him in the longer format. Brad Hogg, on the other hand, believes Rahul is a good option for limited-overs cricket, but for Tests India should go with Pant while keeping Saha as a back-up.

He concluded, "In Tests, I wouldn’t have KL Rahul keeping because he doesn’t do enough of it at first-class level. It would put pressure on his batting, I’d be too afraid that his batting will fall away because of the extra workload. So, you’ve got to go with either Saha or Pant. Pant’s batting is more explosive than Saha. If you look at India’s top order, their top five do the bulk of the world. What you need from your no. 7 is someone to come out and take the game on, and get as much runs as quickly as possible,"