Rishabh Pant knows he has to balance caution & aggression: Shastri

Brisbane, Jan 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) India coach Ravi Shastri called Rishabh Pant a good listener and someone who is fast learning how to strike balance between caution and his natural aggression.

Pant's knock of unbeaten 89 on Tuesday that led India to a three-wicket win at The Gabba was a pleasant mixture of caution and aggression. In the past, he has been blamed for either being too aggressive or too slow.

From 34 off 84 deliveries at the time of Pujara's dismissal, he finished with 89 off 138 balls, scoring his last 55 runs off 54 balls.

"Pant is a good listener. He understands. He realises what is his natural game. But he also knows he has to strike a right balance between caution and aggression," Shastri told reporters after India beat Australia on Tuesday.

"No one wants to change the natural ability of any player as a coach. But sometimes you can get reckless. This game teaches you. He has shown that in both the matches. He made 90-odd runs in Sydney. If he had stayed there for another 45 minutes, we might have had a different story to tell," added Shastri.

"He was disappointed with that shot. He learned from that and made sure he was there at the finish today."

Shastri added that the focus was to play session by session.

"We had a chat and said let us play normal cricket. Just play your natural game. Don't try and manufacture something. Try and set the game up. Take it session by session. Then if you get the opportunity in the end you can think about going for the target. Gill's innings had set the platform," said the India coach.

"For someone on his first tour of Australia, especially on a bouncy Gabba track to take on the attack the way he did... he got the momentum going. Then there was Rishabh. You can't change his style of play. In his mind he was always chasing. One look at the scoreboard and you knew he had other ideas."

Source: IANS