Rishabh Pant scored 36* runs against Ireland on June 5 while batting at No. 3.

After India defeated Ireland by eight wickets in their opening encounter at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, Indian men’s cricket team batting coach Vikram Rathour has opened up about wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant’s batting position in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

The Indian pace quartet, including Hardik Pandya, dismantled the Irish batting unit, bundling them out for just 96 runs after electing to bowl first. Hardik picked a three-wicket haul, and the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each.

While chasing 97 runs on a spicy New York pitch, skipper Rohit Sharma hammered unbeaten 52 before getting retired hurt. Stylish left-handed batter Pant supported Rohit at the other end. Pant chipped in with 36* runs in 26 deliveries and sealed the chase with a sixer.

Rishabh Pant is our No. 3: Indian batting coaching Vikram Rathour

India didn’t include Yashasvi Jaiswal in their XI. Rohit opened with Virat Kohli, with Pant coming in at number 3 as he did in the warm-up match against Bangladesh, where he hit a fifty. This was only the second time that Rohit and Kohli opened together for India in T20Is. This was Pant’s seventh T20I innings at number 3 out of 57 times he donned the India blue in the shortest format of the game.

After the match, Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour said the management is happy with Pant’s performances against Bangladesh and Ireland, confirming that the southpaw will continue to bat in the No. 3 position.

“Yes, he has been batting really well. The two games he has played, he has looked really, really good. So yes, at the moment he is our number three and it helps that he is the left-hander,” Rathour said at the post-match press conference.

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