Sachin Tendulkar was generous in his praise for Risabh Pant who has been hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Ahead of the IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Supergiant, Tendulkar spoke on the talents that impressed him this season and Delhi youngster Pant was one of the prominent names.
“He is a special talent. To me, he looks like a combination of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina - the set up and the bat swing. He is wonderful to watch,” Tendulkar said of Pant.
Pant slammed two half-centuries for Delhi on his way to score 366 runs in 14 matches. But it was his 43-ball 97 against Gujarat Lions in a league match that earned him a lot of praise and Tendulkar had lauded his effort the next day on social media.
Pant played the scintillating knock after suffering a personal tragedy – death of his father – and Tendulkar said he was in a similar situation during the 1999 World Cup in England.
“Yes, it’s never easy to have a tragedy in your family and then turn up and focus on the game (on Rishabh’s bereavement on the eve of IPL). I can understand what he must have gone through, because the same happened with me in the 1999 World Cup. It takes time to overcome and is a loss that’s irreparable. Full marks to Rishabh and his family; in these times, you need your family’s support,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar also praised Nitish Rana, Basil Thampi, Mohammed Siraj and Rahul Tripathi as the finds of the 2017 IPL. “Nitish Rana from our team has done really well. Batted brilliantly in the first half of the tournament. Have been watching Thampi and Siraj. Bumrah has been around for a while and performing consistently well. Tripathi has a beautiful bat swing and a cover drive of his the other day reminded me of Viru!,” Tendulkar said.
