“He has to take those risky shots out of the game” - Sachin Tendulkar offers advice to Rishabh Pant ahead of first Test vs England

Former Indian legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has shared a key piece of advice to the Indian vice-captain Rishabh Pant ahead of the first Test of the five-match series against England, starting on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds.

Speaking about Pant’s aggressive batting approach, Sachin stated that there will be a few situations in the game where the Indian middle-order batter needs to curb his instincts for the better interests of the team.

"He (Pant) should back his instincts most of the time. But there'll be situations where he'll have to curb his game in the interests of the team. I know that whatever he does the rest of the time will also be in the interest of the team, but the approach might have to be different. He has to have that flexibility in his mind,” Sachin Tendulkar told ESPNCricinfo.

"If there are times when you're looking to save the game, then he may have to adapt that defensive approach, for let's say an hour or 45 minutes or sometimes two hours, where he'll have to just take those risky shots out of the game and not be as aggressive. He could be positive, but the shot selection will come into play,” he added.

"Nine out of ten times, if I'm the captain, I'll say, 'Just go out and play your game, why worry about anything.' If you're looking to save the game, that is when the approach changes a bit, but otherwise I would tell him that you go out and be yourself and do what you feel is in the best interest of the team," Tendulkar stated.

Notably, Pant is part of the leadership team for the England tour as Shubman Gill's deputy. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing their retirements from the longest format of the game, Gill has been tasked to lead the Indian Test team in the new WTC 2025-27 cycle.

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