Avesh Khan heaps praise on ‘intelligent captain’ Rishabh Pant

Avesh Khan has plenty of experience playing alongside maverick Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant. The duo played together during their Under-19 days and then fate reunited them together at Delhi Capitals where Avesh proved to be a revelation during IPL 2021. The pacer’s breakthrough arrived under the leadership of Rishabh Pant who was appointed as captain just before the season.

Avesh Khan’s exploits with the ball has seen him getting called up to the national team and he has been included in the squad to face West Indies. In an interview with Backstage with Boria, the gun bowler heaped praise on Rishabh Pant and termed him an ‘intelligent captain.’ Avesh also added that Pant’s advices and suggestions from behind the stumps have helped him immensely.

“Rishabh Pant is quite an intelligent captain. He is a wicketkeeper, so he can see very well what the batter is going to do. I have always had good communication with him, because he is a good friend too from the Under-19 days, when we played together,” he said.

“He’s also guided me from behind the stumps many times as to whether to bowl away from the batter or to bowl a bouncer or a wide yorker. It feels good having that kind of communication, and when I executed those plans, even he felt good as a captain that I was following what he had to say.”

After very impressive performances during IPL 2021 which saw him earning plenty of plaudits, Avesh Khan received his maiden India call-up for the T20I series against New Zealand at home. When asked about it, he mentioned that the first person he went to after receiving the news was his Madhya Pradesh teammate Venkatesh Iyer who had also received his maiden India call-up at the same time.

“I had a lot of curiosity in my mind that I had a good IPL season, so I was expecting to get an India call-up for the series against New Zealand. I kept asking everyone when the team would be declared. I was in Delhi at the time for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Our last match had just gotten over. Mom and dad also had hopes. And when, finally my name came, I was very happy.

“My friend Venkatesh Iyer, we are very close and always shared a room, he also got selected so I first ran to him and we hugged and celebrated and then I called my dad,” said Avesh.