I observed him very closely during the IPL but never realized he's only 21, shares Kevin Pietersen

Rishabh Pant continues to remain the talk of the town as his poor performance with the bat and behind the stumps attracting unwanted limelight towards him. While all the criticism surrounding the Delhi lad had him cornered already, the inclusion of a backup wicketkeeper in Sanju Samson has only mounted on his pressure of losing his place in the side.

Former England batter Kevin Pietersen backed Pant as he shared that the 22-year-old needs some time to mature and adapt to the international stage, something many former India players share the same thought about. Sharing his view on his criticism, the destructive batsman opined that Pant not learning from his mistakes is the reason behind his own undoing.

"He is young and he has that energy and enthusiasm, he plays in the IPL, and he plays for India and is just living his dream. There will be a lot of critics around him, he's only 21 (22)," Pietersen said on Star Sports' 'Nerolac Cricket Live' show.

"I observed him very closely during the IPL and he kept making the same mistakes and when you do that continuously then pundits, experts and people who have played the game want to criticize you because you should be learning from your mistakes." 

Further, Pietersen admitted that he did not realise that the left-hander was just 21 as he thought that Pant's age was close to 25 years. Last week, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had asserted that the youngster can't be isolated to such an extent that he starts feeling nervous on the field and Pietersen feels Pant has a long way to go.

"If you look at all the mistakes he has made and the position he is in, with the team and Virat backing him and with MS out at the moment, he does have a long way to go.

"He will be looked upon on his performance and he is 21 (22), so will he be able to buy the time to be an absolute superstar in Indian cricket is what we need to see, and I think he actually can."