IND vs WI 2022: "He often manages to slice it to short third man"- Danish Kaneria on Rishabh Pant's weakness

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria believes that every team in white-ball cricket has begun to target Rishabh Pant's growing weakness outside off stump. The 24-year-old continued his poor run of form in T20Is for India as he scored just 14 against the West Indies in the first T20I in Trinidad on Friday.

Pant, when in ultra-attacking mode, always looks to either slog the ball outside off-stump across the line, or hit it over cover without reaching its pitch.

This, according to Kaneria, is what makes the southpaw manage to just lob it to the short third man as he fails to get full control over his shot.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's what the 41-year-old had to say about Pant's recurring mode of dismissal:

"Rishabh Pant continues to show that weakness outside off-stump and this time it was Keemo Paul who took advantage. Pant feels that whenever the ball is in his arc outside off, he backs himself to hit it over covers for a six. But he often manages to slice it to a short third man, which is exactly what happened."

Danish Kaneria on Rishabh Pant's ideal batting position in T20s

Danish Kaneria opined that Pant should bat in the lower middle-order in T20Is as players like Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav can form the top four with captain Rohit Sharma.

The 41-year-old feels the left-hander might be able to play more freely with finishers like Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja around him. He stated:

"For me, Rishabh Pant's ideal batting position in T20Is is lower down the order. Rohit Sharma can open with Shreyas Iyer in the next game, with Deepak Hooda or Suryakumar Yadav to follow and then you have Hardik, Dinesh Karthik and Jadeja too. So Pant can bat a bit lower."

It will be interesting to see if India continue to juggle their batting positions after their thumping win in the first T20I.