Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwari has expressed high praise for India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant, suggesting he could become history’s greatest wicketkeeper if he maintains his distinctive playing style.Pant has made a significant impact in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, scoring 416 runs across five innings, including two centuries at Headingley.“Rishabh Pant is unique, he has his own style of play. His thinking and approach are different to batters which causes an unpredictable contest between the batters and bowlers. He sometimes does throw his wicket which causes criticism but his success rate is high. If a wicket-keeper is contributing 100 runs, historically Indian wicket-keeper batters have not been successful with the bat,” Tiwari told IANS.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“We have had some great keepers like Adam Gilchrist, who was great behind the stumps and with the bat, in Indian conditions, we had MS Dhoni but I believe if he continues to play like this, he will go down as the greatest wicket-keeper in history,” he added.In the current five-Test series, Pant holds the second position in run-scoring behind captain Shubman Gill. He has broken multiple records at Edgbaston and accumulated 601 runs in the series.
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“Gill is in very good form and has made some technical adjustments. In earlier Test matches, he used to get bowled by incoming deliveries but he has worked on closing the gap between bat and ball. The benefit for that is he is able to play straight down the wicket. He is in control and in great form. It seems like he has added the responsibility of being a captain while betting. It is great to see a young batter lead the team,” added Tiwari.Jasprit Bumrah, the top-ranked bowler, returned to the Indian team at Lord’s Test after missing the Edgbaston Test due to workload management. He replaced Prasidh Krishna in the team.Bumrah secured figures of 5/74, earning his place on the Lord’s Honours Board.“When Bumrah is playing, he is usually the best performer on the field. The form with which he is bowling it seems he will continue to trouble the batters. His ability with the ball and his IQ on the field is amazing. He has been India’s main man across all formats. When he is in the team, the self-belief of the side is much more,” Tiwari said.
