Hemang Badani Interview: Rishabh Pant should re-invent himself in T20s; Virat Kohli’s hunger for runs is back

While
interacting
with
a
select
media
interaction
organised
with
Sony
Sports
Network
–
the
official
broadcasters
of
India’s
tour
of
Bangladesh
–
Badani
said
Pant
has
done
reasonably
well
in
the
ODIs
but
the
25-year-old
certainly
needs
to
go
back
to
the
drawing
board
and
reinvent
his
T20
skills.

The
46-year-old
–
who
has
played
4
Tests
and
40
ODIs
–
also
threw
light
on
why
top
Indian
batters
are
not
contributing
as
part-time
bowlers
and
providing
the
skipper
with
some
options
of
having
more
all-rounders
in
the
ranks.

The
former
Tamil
Nadu
and
Vidarbha
cricketer
claimed
that
in
during
his
playing
days
even
the
top
batters
in
the
Indian
side
were
good
bowlers
because
they
used
to
consistently
bowl
in
the
nets.
Hence,
the
team
didn’t
really
require
the
need
of
playing
a
genuine
all-rounder
back
in
the
day.

Excerpts
from
Hemang
Badani
Interview:

Question:
Rishabh
Pant
looks
like
an
accomplished
batter
in
Test
but
he
hasn’t
done
justice
to
the
vast
amount
of
talent
he
has
in
the
limited-overs
format.
What’s
your
take
on
this?

Answer:
My
simple
take
on
this
is
that
he
is
a
no-brainer
in
Tests
let’s
keep
that
aside.
In
T20s,
yes,
his
numbers
don’t
respect
the
potential
and
the
talent
he
has.
Especially,
what
we
expect
of
him.

In
the
ODIs,
he
hasn’t
done
that
badly
in
the
format.
In
the
New
Zealand
series,
yes
he
failed
to
deliver.
But
most
of
us
end
up
clubbing
T20
and
if
a
player
does
badly
in
one
format
we
end
up
claiming
‘Oh
his
numbers
are
bad
in
the
white
ball
format’.
But
Pant
has
done
well
in
the
ODIs.
In
the
last
ODI
series
he
played,
he
slammed
a
century,
and
we
are
talking
about
a
knock
which
was
3-4
innings
prior
to
the
Bangladesh
series.
So,
I
don’t
think
he’s
done
badly
in
the
ODIs,
he
did
fail
in
New
Zealand
but
we
end
up
clubbing
his
performances
of
T20Is.

Question:
Do
you
think
he
deserves
a
place
in
the
T20
side
with
the
performances
he’s
had?

Answer:
He
has
the
skills
and
talent
but
that
isn’t
enough.
I
genuinely
believe
he’s
a
good
T20
player
but
there’s
a
little
bit
of
structure
lacking
with
the
way
he’s
approaching
his
innings.
There’s
no
debating
that
he’s
a
serious
T20
player
but
the
way
he’s
approaching
(his
game),
there’s
a
big
gap
between
his
potential,
his
skills
and
his
delivering.
And
that
to
me
is
something
he
needs
to
work
on.
Even
if
it
is
a
T20
format,
you
can’t
hit
all
ten
balls
for
a
maximum.
You
still
have
to
be
prudent
about
which
ball
to
hit,
and
which
bowler
are
you
targetting.
Those
are
things
which
Rishabh
needs
to
work
on.

Question:
Why
are
the
Indian
batters
not
rolling
their
arms
and
providing
the
option
of
a
decent
part-time
bowler
to
the
skipper?

Answer:
This
takes
me
to
the
time
when
we
used
to
play.
Sachin,
Viru,
Dada,
even
myself.
we
all
used
to
bowl.
It
makes
a
massive
difference.
But
you
cannot
produce
an
all-rounder
overnight.
You
have
to
be
a
genuinely
good
all-rounder
to
play.
Look
at
the
English
side,
they
have
a
good
list
of
all-rounders
in
the
side.
If
you
look
at
England,
even
Adil
Rashid,
for
me,
is
an
all-rounder.

You
can’t
go
to
the
factories
and
manufacture
all-rounders,
do
you?
You
have
to
get
down
to
the
domestic
circuit
and
see
if
we
have
all-rounders
of
quality
there.
Yes,
there
are
all-rounders
but
do
they
have
the
quality
to
excel
at
the
highest
level?
And
if
we
do,
then
take
that
player
forward.
You
have
a
Jadeja,
an
Axar
Patel
and
a
Hardik
Pandya
in
the
current
set-up.

Why
does
Hardik
become
such
an
important
player
for
us,
that’s
because
he
has
the
pedigree.
You
would
hope
that
you
have
more
players
like
him.
However,
in
the
current
setup,
there
are
no
batters
who
can
bowl.

During
our
playing
days,
we
never
had
these
extra
net
bowlers,
or
side-arm
bowlers,
etc.
So
we
used
to
bowl.
It
all
boils
down
to
the
fact
that
how
often
a
bowler
bowls
in
the
nets
session
and
how
many
sets
he
bowls
in
the
nets
because
he
also
has
to
remain
fresh
for
the
game.
So,
what
we
used
to
do
is,
that
Sachin
(Tendulkar),
Yuvi
(Yuvraj
Singh),
Viru
(Virender
Sehwag)
and
I
would
take
up
the
responsibility
of
bowling
a
couple
of
sets.

So,
invariably
our
skills
kept
improving.
But
in
today’s
day
and
age,
we
have
so
many
net
bowlers
and
other
support
staff,
and
I
am
not
saying
it’s
a
bad
thing.
But
yes,
it
does
diminish
the
talent
of
your
part-time
bowlers
because
they’re
not
practising
in
the
nets.

Question:
Will
the
elusive
Test
hundred
come
from
Virat
Kohli’s
willow
in
Bangladesh?

Answer:
The
player
I
am
going
to
look
forward
to
in
Bangladesh
is
Virat
Kohli.
Trust
me
he’s
back,
he’s
hungry
and
he’ll
make
up
for
the
lost
time.
So
yes,
we
can
expect
it
to
happen.