New Delhi: Head Coach of India Gautam Gambhir emphasized on Friday Rishabh Pant There is no need to change his natural batting style but he has to play according to the demands of the match situation, echoing comments made by assistant coach Ryan ten Douchet a day earlier.Pant was removed as India’s Test vice-captain when the BCCI announced the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan last month. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s match in New Chandigarh, Gambhir said he continues to support the wicket-keeper-batsman but expects him to make better decisions about the situation.“We don’t want Rishabh Pant to change but international cricket demands players to respect match conditions,” Gambhir said in the pre-match press conference.His remarks came a day after Ten Douchet spoke about Pant’s approach to batting and leadership.“With Rishabh’s intelligence, we don’t want to take away all the things he does but at times if he can adjust his game to (match) conditions a little bit, I think you’ll see it work.”“I don’t think he needs a formal title to be a leader in such an elite set-up, and I think Rishabh understands that,” Ten-Douchet said of the decision to remove Pant as vice-captain.Also read: For Rishabh Pant, the 50th Test milestone is another starting point.The 28-year-old Pant is all set to play his 50th Test when India take on Afghanistan. In 49 Tests, he has scored 3,476 runs at an average of 42.91 and a strike rate of 74.24, including eight centuries and 18 fifties.The historic match comes after a difficult period for Pant. He endured a poor IPL 2026 season as both a batsman and captain of Lucknow Supergiants and also lost the Test vice-captaincy to KL Rahul.During the Test series against South Africa and the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Pant’s attacking style came under scrutiny at times.The Afghanistan Test now gives him an opportunity to turn his attention back to red-ball cricket and make an impact with the bat as India begin another Test assignment.
