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India may have plugged the gaps in Visakhapatnam but the pressure still remains on Rishabh Pant, who hasn't clicked with the willow in his first-ever stint as captain of the national side. The 24-year-old stumper will look for a substantial knock when the home team takes on South Africa in another must-win Twenty20 game in Rajkot on Friday. 

The Proteas bowling attack hasn't allowed free-flowing Pant to find his mojo. The stand-in captain has been caught in the deep multiple times in an attempt to smack the ball. He scored just six in the previous T20 before falling prey to a Dwaine Pretorius slower delivery.

As Pant faces a stiff challenge in the remaining two games, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has underlined how the team has got plenty of options at its disposal. Irfan feels Pant can't keep his bat quiet when there is intense competition for a place in the eleven.

Also Read | Angry Pant said 'if Pujara didn't tell me I was on 97, I'd have scored my 100'

"He has got stuck a lot, you will have to perform. As of now, you are doing the captaincy but it is possible that going forward a time might come where you might have to work hard to play in the XI," Irfan said during a discussion on Star Sports.

"You already have Dinesh Karthik and Ishan Kishan as wicketkeepers in the playing XI and Sanju Samson is waiting, and KL Rahul (who can keep) is a name who I will always keep in my playing XI. I feel he (Rahul) is the best cricketer. So there is a lot of competition, you cannot keep your bat quiet for too long," he further added.

Pant, who remains a crucial element of the Indian team across all three formats, has managed just 40 runs in the last three games. Irfan tagged the wicketkeeper-batter as a 'superstar' but pointed out how he's perished while hitting the ball in the air.

"The T20 game is his, that's what I believe. There is no doubt that Rishabh Pant is a superstar player. He is a 24-year-old boy, if he plays for the next 10 years, he can become the most fantastic cricketer but that result has not come till now.

"I feel he tries to muscle the ball a lot when he plays on the off side. When you try to put the same power that you put while playing on the leg side while losing your shape, there will be problems. He is trying to hit too hard and hitting the ball in the air. Play along the ground there and hit in the air on the leg side," added the World Cup-winning all-rounder.

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