IND vs WI LIVE: Rishabh Pant opens with Rohit Sharma – Indian ODI skipper Rohit Sharma has opted for a different opening pair in the second ODI of the ongoing West Indies tour of India. Rishabh Pant has opened the innings alongside the skipper. This move essentially means that vice-captain KL Rahul will slot in the middle order of the batting lineup. Follow IND vs WI LIVE on InsideSport.IN
Though it might seem to be a gamble, Pant has previously opened 4 times in the IPL. The fiery batter scored 104 runs as an opener where he managed an average of 26.00 with a solitary half-century and the highest score of 69.
However, the opener experiment involving Rishabh Pant failed horribly as the young player ended up giving away his wicket cheaply to Odean Smith. Pant was dismissed when he played a bad shot which was comfortably taken by Jason Hoder of an Odean Smith delivery. He finished his innings with a score of 18 runs in 34 balls. With a strike rate of 52.00 Pant played a slow inning which consisted of 3 boundaries.
Pant has previously played as an opener in his U19 days. In his 11 matches as an opener, he scored 454 runs with a healthy average of 41.27. Among his 11 innings, he registered a hundred and 4 half-centuries.
IND vs WI Live: India’s Rishabh Pant ‘opener’ EXPERIMENT horribly FAILS, youngster gives away wicket once again
Also Read: IND vs WI LIVE: Ajit Agarkar wants Rishabh Pant to open for India in 1st ODI- check why?
Rishabh Pant’s batting performance in ODIs by Batting order
| Position | Inns | NO | 100s | 50s | 0s | HS | Runs | Avg | S/R |
| 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 85 | 342 | 28.5 | 98.56 |
| 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 254 | 42.33 | 146.82 |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 45 | 22.5 | 97.83 |
| Overall | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 85 | 641 | 32.05 | 113.25 |
Former Indian international Ajit Agarkar had previously started his views on how Rishabh Pant should be used as an opener owing to his aggressive batting style. “You have got a couple of explosive players, someone like an Ishan Kishan or even someone like a Rishabh Pant, who knows whether it’s worth giving him a go at the top of the order,” he said ahead of the 1st ODI in Ahmedabad while speaking to Star Sports.
IND vs WI Live: India’s Rishabh Pant ‘opener’ EXPERIMENT horribly FAILS, youngster gives away wicket once again
KL Rahul is a versatile batter and can accommodate himself in any number of batting orders. Be it an opener or a playing in the middle order, KL Rahul has done it all. In his 40 ODI games, KL Rahul has opened the innings 21 times and has played in every position in the middle order.
KL Rahul’s batting performance in ODIs by Batting order
| Position | Inns | NO | 100s | 50s | 0s | HS | Runs | Avg | S/R |
| Opening | 21 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 111 | 884 | 46.53 | 80.58 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 77 | 25.67 | 78.57 |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 108 | 160 | 40 | 80 |
| 5 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 112 | 453 | 56.63 | 113.82 |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11* | 11 | 366.67 | |
| Overall | 40 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 112 | 1585 | 46.62 | 88.25 |
Speaking about KL Rahul and his situation Agarkar added, “I think that’s the first thing they need to decide, whether he is an opener or a middle-order batter because he captained in South Africa and he opened, which to me, it was a little bit disappointing because he had been successful at the No. 4 or 5 position, that’s the role they were looking at,”
IND vs WI Live: India’s Rishabh Pant ‘opener’ EXPERIMENT horribly FAILS, youngster gives away wicket once again
