Indian captain Rohit Sharma wants Rishabh Pant to be put under less pressure and he believes that constant chatter and speculations over his form is not helping the young man. Despite being given a longer rope by the selectors and the management, Pant has not been able to nail down his spot in the playing XI and this has led to a lot of chatter about his future.
"You know there is a lot of talk happening about Pant every day, every minute. I just feel that he needs to be allowed to do what he wants to do on the field. I would request everyone to keep their eyes away from Pant for a while," Rohit said ahead of India's 3rd T20I in Nagpur.
'He is a young guy'
"He is a fearless cricketer and we (team management) want him to have that freedom. And if you guys take your eyes off him for sometime, it will allow him to perform even better," he further added.
The skipper further added that the the wicket-keeper is a youngster and hence, should be allowed to express himself and play the game.
"He is a young guy, 22, trying to make his mark in international cricket. Every move he makes on the field, people start talking about him. It is not fair. I think we should allow him to play his cricket which actually he also wants to do," he said.
After a rather lacklustre performance with the bat in the first T20I, Pant struggled to keep wickets in Rajkot and even made an error while attempting to stump Liton Das. He has already lost his place in Test matches and after such insipid performances, there have been clarion calls made to the selectors to decide his future. However, if the skipper's statements are anything to go by, the management wants to stick with the left-hander and give him all the confidence in the upcoming games.
There is Sanju Samson in the Indian side and another failure could seriously amp the heat on Pant as the Kerala batsman is a potent option to replace him as a wicket-keeper batsman.
"Focus on him a lot more when he is doing good things also, not just bad things. He has been learning, there have been times he has kept well also. He is trying to do what the team management wants him to do," Rohit said.
