Sourav Ganguly feels this player is next-best red-ball batter after Kohli

Sourav Ganguly (Pic: File Pic)

Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly names Rishabh Pant as the next-best red-ball batsman after stalwart Virat Kohli and feels the left-hander could have a huge impact in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

In a few days, Team India will lock horns with Australia in order to pin their hopes to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

With some of the Indian stars finding their form, the focus will be on Rishabh Pant who holds an impeccable record against Australia.

Rishabh Pant's aggression which comes with risks has allowed him to thrive against Australia as well. His fearlessness in 2021, on the final day of the fourth Test, led in Brisbane to the famous "Toota Hai Gabba Ka Ghamand."

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Sourav Ganguly, who has closely worked with Pant during their time in Delhi Capitals in IPL, believes that the "generational talent" will have his say during the five Tests.

"His special ability. He still needs to evolve and figure out his game in white-ball cricket. But in red ball, he is just fantastic. Look at the innings he has played in England, Australia and South Africa, and you will know, he is a generational talent in red-ball cricket. He is India's next-best red-ball batter after Kohli and could have a huge impact in the series," Sourav Ganguly said while speaking to Revsportz.

Pant showed his knack for scoring runs in the recent Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand earlier this year. While displaying his terrific form, Pant racked up 422 runs from five matches at an average of 46.88 and a strike rate of 86.47.

The best of Pant came when India was down on the ground during the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. He opened his arms and raised hopes with a scintillating 99, with Sarfaraz Khan providing the perfect company on the other end.

India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

(With ANI Inputs)