Rishabh Pant may be under the scanner for his shot selection in recent matches but former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has asked for him to be set free, and to be patient with him. There has been an immediate spotlight on the youngster after Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s interview with Star Sports, where they asked the batsman to play responsibly.
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Shastri went on to say that there will be rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent, indicating towards Rishabh. They also said that his shot selection has let the team down on occasions.
Defending Rishabh, Ganguly sad he is an x-factor. “Rishabh Pant is an X-factor. Just be patient with him. I see country goes up and down when Rishabh Pant hits the ball in the air. Whenever the ball is the air, Twitter goes berserk. But, if you want to have a match-winner than set him free. India have a lot of batsmen, who can defend, drive and play sensible innings like Shikhar, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli,” Ganguly told Cricbuzz.
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Rishabh, who came out to bat two days after the interview during the second T20I, again got out to a loose shot as he handed a straight catch to Tabraiz Shamsi at the short-fine leg on a delivery that could have been hit on any side of the park.
Once again, he played a loose shot and came under the microscope of the team management. But he is still expected to get his chances as there is no such player in domestic cricket who can straightaway replace the youngster in the white-ball side.
Though MS Dhoni is still an active player and can make his comeback if the team requires his services.
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The third and the final T20I of the series will be played tomorrow in Bangalore. Rishabh’s performance will again be scrutinised and the youngster will hope to bat well, working on his shot selection.
Shreyas Iyer, who has been batting at number five since his comeback, is expected to replace Rishabh at the number four spot.