Young talent like Rishabh Pant needs support from his team, says Gautam Gambhir
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has backed young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant who's facing a sudden dip in form since the West Indies tour. The veteran batsman, on Sunday, said that the 21-year-old needs more support rather than criticism from the team during this phase.
The young gloveman Pant has been facing a lot of flak for his "careless" batting and poor shots that have led to absurd dismissals in the recent past, which head coach Ravi Shastri particularly pointed out to not be tolerated. While he received a lot of criticism from one end, some senior cricketers like Ajit Agarkar and now Gautam Gambhir have chosen to back the talented batsman.
While Gambhir has always preferred Sanju Samson ahead of Pant as India's gloveman, he still feels it's unfair on the management's part to be so harsh on a 21-year-old who already has two overseas Test cricket hundreds.
"Personally, I have always backed Sanju Samson ahead of Rishabh for wicketkeeper-batsman's role but it is disappointing to see the team-management using words like "from fearless to careless", "wrap on Rishbah's knuckles" and "need for a backup of Rishabh". This is no way to handle a young human resource. Everyone wants him to play "sensible" cricket," Gambhir wrote in his column for Times of India.
"I don't know what that means. What I do know is that the boy is now playing for survival rather than scoring runs. From the outside it seems that his mindset is all over the place. Someone needs to put an arm around his shoulder and tell him that he is wanted in the team," Gambhir said.
While India lead the T20I home series against South Africa by 1-0, having won the 2nd game quite comfortably, Gambhir feels the hosts can repeat the same magic in the third and final game which will be played on Sunday.
"I expect India to boss around in the final T20 as well. I hope there is a balance of support in the pitch in Bengaluru. Too much tilt in favour of batsmen is never a good spectacle," Gambhir said.