Former England pacer Steve Harmison has requested Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir to stay away from Rishabh Pant's "head" and let the swashbuckling batter play his natural game.
"He is third now on the all-time list of six-hitters for India. The top two are Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma. The number one hit me for quite a few," said the former England pacer on Talksport Cricket.
What impressed Harmison the most about Pant is the way he built his innings.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rishabh Pant goes tumbling �� <a href="https://t.co/1VtRUMUh2O">pic.twitter.com/1VtRUMUh2O</a></p>— England Cricket (@englandcricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/englandcricket/status/1937104547928752186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
"But it was the control and then the utterly random madness of his attacks — and then he'd go back into his shell, hit a couple more sixes, and go back into his shell. Yeah, we said yesterday it's about that voice in his ear," he said.
"There's a voice in his ear, and I think some people in coaching might say, ‘Right, I need to get into his head and try to make him think this way or bat that way.’ If you're a coach of India and you're a coach of Rishabh Pant, I'd be terrified to try to get into his head. I mean, let the boy play, let him go," he added.
Citing the example of the last ball on Day 2, Harmison hailed Pant, called him a wonderful character, and explained why cricket needs players like him.
"We saw last night, first ball of the last over, half past six — out of the ground for six, over 70 metres. I mean, he is box office. His celebration, everything about him is," said Harmison.
"I mean, we all want characters in cricket, and characters sometimes get stifled in the modern generation because of social media and people's opinions — and everybody who has a mobile phone seems to have an opinion.
"I tell you what, that character — while he's in cricket, it's a better place, because he's a wonderful, wonderful character and a wonderful player."
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