A day after Brian Lara commended Rishabh Pant for demonstrating improvement in his batting, previous England commander Kevin Pietersen has advanced a totally different idea with respect to the wicketkeeper-batsman. Pietersen feels Pant has not indicated any noteworthy development since first blasting onto the scene in 2017 and that is forestalling the 22-year-old's advancement.

Gasp has scored 31, 37*, 28, 38, and 37 in the initial five IPL matches for the Delhi Capitals. On Friday against Rajasthan Royals, Pant was excused economically for 5. A line of low scores is the thing that pushed Pant out of India's restricted overs set up recently, and Pietersen figures that if the adolescent intends to recover his place in the group, he'd have to concoct better returns.

“Rishabh Pant is somebody who disappoints. Because he is someone, I expect so much from,” Pietersen said in an interview. “And, I am yet to consistently see him giving performances with the bat day in and day out. In order to get that Indian tag, and to play international cricket, you need some consistencies. You need to get better. I am seeing the same player I saw a year before, and a year before, and a year before that. As long as he has been playing, he’s been inconsistent.”

But having said that, Pietersen reckons Samson’s transformation has impressed him more than Pant. “Whereas, when I see Sanju Samson, I see completely different. The dedication, the commitment he put in to turn up for this year’s IPL, that impressed me. That actually got him ahead of Rishabh Pant for me, just purely from diet-based, fitness base, and from dedication,” Pietersen said.

“He said I want to go out there and do everything I can to play cricket for India. He’s got runs after runs. He failed a couple of times. But that dedication is what you need to get into international cricket because when the going gets tough, the tougher gets going. And international cricketer is a tough space.”