BIRMINGHAM: India were in a deep hole when Rishabh Pant walked in at 5 for 2. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were gone. And KL Rahul joined them soon.
The pressure weighed humungous on the young shoulders of Pant. The left-handed batsman looked confident and played some impressive shots under pressure, but a wild heave across the line proved to be his undoing. Pant faced criticism for his shot selection.
Kevin Pietersen, a vociferous supporter of Pant, called his dismissal “pathetic”. How many times have we seen Pant do that? The very reason he wasn’t picked initially! Pathetic!,” Pietersen tweeted.
India skipper Virat Kohli said Pant is an instinctive player and he would learn from his mistakes. “He did well to overcome that situation and stringing a partnership with Hardik. In hindsight, he’s still young, so I made many errors when I was young in my career. He will learn. He will look back and think yes, he could have chosen a different option in that situation. He realises that already,” said Kohli.
The captain said Pant would come out stronger. “On the outside, it looks like it was an error but the person who makes it, trust me, they are the ones who suffer the most with it. I’m sure he will reflect on it and he will come out stronger. The talent is there for everyone to see and the character is there,” Kohli added.
As Mahendra Singh Dhoni is expected to retire from the limited-overs, Pant could be his successor behind the stumps. He has big shoes to fill. His wicket-keeping skills need some polishing though. Having already proved his worth in Test format by scoring two hundreds, that too away from home, Pant should make use of the opportunity in the upcoming away series against the West Indies to cement his place.
