Happy bat, sloppy glove: Rishabh Pant has a lot to do to improve as wicket-keeper

India's latest Test wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant may have done well enough in the nine Tests he has played so far. His 40 catches behind the wicket to go with two stumpings suggest that he is here to stay.

And, his quick scoring acts, which also fetched him a century each at The Oval and in Sydney besides a host of 20s and 30s at the crucial No. 7 position indicate that Pant is the ideal wicketkeeping all-rounder that the team has been looking for.

That would mean the man who is recovering from a shoulder surgery, Wriddhiman Saha, will find it difficult to make a comeback into the Test side. Saha, a far better wicketkeeper as he has shown during his stint before the thumb injury last year, will have to do extraordinarily well to push Pant out of the starting line-up in Tests.

Pant began his Test career in a dream fashion, taking five catches in his maiden Test, something akin to a bowler taking five wickets on debut. He has equalled a world record of most catches in a Test – 11 in Adelaide (6 in the first and 5 in the second).

Pant's exploits with the bat and his 40-odd dismissals in such a short span may suggest that there's nothing wrong with his glove work. However, Pant has a lot of work to do to improve as a wicketkeeper.

As has been seen since his debut in England and right through the Australia series, Pant has dropped straightforward chances for minor technical flaws. Experts felt that he had the initial movement to his left before going to the ball, thereby losing out on those crucial fractions of a second and hence fumbling.

Like he dropped England's Jos Buttler off Jasprit Bumrah in his debut, first making the move to the left before going to the right and getting his fingertips. Or for that matter, going for a catch with his right hand while going to his left when he could have attempted the Tim Paine edge with his left while diving to his natural side, left, in Adelaide.

Of course, Pant has taken some fine catches to pacers and spinners alike and is constantly improving.

India's yesteryear wicketkeeping great Farokh Engineer was confident that Pant will improve his wicketkeeping skills.

"Don't praise him high. Encourage him. He's technically so incorrect, I don't' want to sound harsh. Give him time. He will improve," the 80-year-old Engineer, who kept wickets in 46 Tests for India from 1961 to 1975, said here on Wednesday night.

Elaborating on Pant's flaws, Engineer said: "He snatches the ball, gets up too early and does not move his feet. A good wicketkeeper moves his feet, goes to the ball and does not dive all the time.

"Pant is young. He will learn from mistakes. Wicketkeeping is not taught, it's a natural thing. He has to iron out certain elementary things. I love his approach, though. I wish him all the luck and am sure his wicketkeeping will improve."

Comparisons have already been made with the former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and how Pant can settle down into the role of an all-rounder, turning the game on its head with his quickfire knocks, like the left-handed Western Australian did in his glorious career.

Pant will do himself, and the Indian team, a lot good if he owned responsibility for his batting. Often has he been seen throwing away his wicket after getting starts, giving an impression that he has had fun until then and has lost interest in batting any further. He has had seven knocks of scores in the 20s, 30s and 40s including six in a row in Australia before scoring that majestic 159 not out in the final Test.

Perhaps, with age, he will mature and assume more responsibility, realise the importance of preserving his wicket and make the bowlers earn it rather than gift it to them. Here's where, apart from wicketkeeping skills, that Saha was a lot better.

It will be an interesting headache for the selectors when Saha is fit and available for selection. He went out of the scene not for lack of form but for injury-related issues. But, considering the kind of start Pant has made to his Test career, Saha will have to wait. Like Engineer said, "It is nice to have competition for positions, someone is looking over your shoulders."

After Pant's back-to-back 92s against the West Indies in the two home Tests last October, head coach Ravi Shastri said that the 21-year-old Delhi left-handed batsman is the preferred wicketkeeper.

"You go on current form. You can't go back to the past and see what happens. You've got to evaluate the conditions and current form becomes paramount," Shastri said.

That pushes Pant's case even stronger. But, that does not guarantee him a permanent slot. A big improvement in his wicketkeeping and batting more responsibly are what the courageous youngster has bear in mind to cement his place.

Pant in numbers

Tests: 9
Innings: 15
Runs: 696
Average: 49.71
100s/50s: 2/2
Cts/Stmps: 40/2

N-zone

5 No. of catches Pant has taken in the first innings of his Test debut against England in Nottingham last August

11 No. of catches Pant has taken in the Adelaide Test last month (6 + 5), a joint world record for the number of catches along with England's Jack Russell and South Africa's AB de Villiers

Did you know?

In the 8 innings between his two Test centuries 114 in London and 159* in Sydney, Pant's scores read 92, 92, 25, 28, 36, 30, 39, 33