While the young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is going through a tough period, Indian Head Coach Ravi Shastri is strongly defending him.
In this year (2019), the 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has come to the centre of the news many times, and mostly for his weak performances.
Rishabh Pant made his international debut in February 2017. Later, he made his ODI and Test debuts in the second half of 2018. In the very early period of his international career, Pant impressed with his batting and wicketkeeping performances.
However, Pant hasn’t maintained the same performances in the running year (2019). Though he has got massive support from the board and teammates, Pant has continuously failed to impress due to his inconsistency. Especially, the youngster has been massively criticised for his batting where he is constantly losing his set wickets due to the poor shot selections. Many times, his dismissal put the team into dangerous positions.
Recently, Rishabh Pant has been dropped from the Test playing XI. However, the team management is continuously giving him chances in the limited-overs cricket, and Rishabh Pant still needs to perform well to set his place at least in the limited-overs squads.
You are not going to be a superstar in one day – Ravi Shastri to Rishabh Pant
However, Ravi Shastri doesn’t feel any scare with Rishabh Pant’s present form in international cricket. The head coach has still a strong belief in him as he knows that it takes time to develop the skills.
Talking about his advice to Rishabh Pant, Shastri said according to IANS, “Nothing. Just tell him that you are young and nobody expects you to learn everything in one day. You are bound to make mistakes, but as long as you sit down and thing about ways to rectify those mistakes, you know that is what this game will teach you. You are not going to be a superstar in one day. You will have your ups and your downs. That is life, but the more you work harder, the more the sacrifices you make, the better you will become.”
Rishabh Pant has already played 11 Tests, 12 ODIs and 23 T20Is. The left-handed batsman has scored 754 Test runs (average 44.35), 229 ODI runs (average 22.90) and 358 T20I runs (average 19.88). In his Test career, Pant has already hit two centuries and two half-centuries.