New Zealand cricket team bowling coach Shane Jurgensen has stated that his team will wary of the danger that Rishabh Pant poses when they will meet India next month in the finals of the World Test Championship.
India-New Zealand set to clash in the inaugural WTC title from June 18 to 22 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
“Well, Pant is an extremely dangerous player who can change the game on its head. We saw how well he did it against Australia and England. He’s extremely positive-minded, but with that comes potentially the opportunity to take his wicket,” Jurgensen told The Telegraph
Pant was exceptional with the bat in India win Down Under earlier this year. He played a match-winning knock in the final Test match when the Indian team was on the verge of losing the Test match. He has scored 515 runs in six Tests at an average of 64.37 this year. Apart from Australia, Pant also performed in the home series against England where he also scored his third Test century.
“Our bowlers need to execute well, stay calm and make it as difficult as possible for Pant to score runs. He’s certainly a free-flowing batsman and a tough one to stop, which we should keep in mind,” said Jurgensen.
Jurgensen also noted that India’s bowling attack too poses a big threat.
“It’s a challenging bowling attack that India has. A lot of options are available for them. It’ll be a very, very stiff challenge we could face from (Jasprit) Bumrah to Shardul (Thakur), who’s an all-rounder and has done well in Australia too. There’s Mohammed Siraj and even their spinners, who can spin it both ways. It’s a group of formidable, outstanding Test bowlers,” he said.
