ICC World Cup 2019 | Yuvraj Singh defends Rishabh Pant against Kevin Pietersen’s criticism

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk,SportsCafe Editor

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Yuvraj Singh quickly came to the defence of youngster Rishabh Pant after the latter was criticised by Kevin Pietersen on Twitter. Pietersen called Pant’s attribute of repeatedly throwing his wicket away ‘pathetic’, referring to the Delhi batsman's dismissal off Mitchell Santner's ball yesterday.

Pant’s talent is undeniable. Even his staunchest critic will admit that the explosive youngster has a single-handed matchwinning ability. Walking in to bat with the scorecard reading 5/2 against New Zealand, most of India expected that the youngster would grab his day of glory with both hands. 

To be fair to Pant, he did that, to some extent. Soon after his arrival, India would lose KL Rahul, and then Dinesh Karthik later in the 10th over. The score read 24 for 4. But, young Pant at the other end showed immense composure in handling the Kiwis’ dangerous opening bowling combination of Matt Henry and Trent Boult. He stroked his way through to a well made 32, before throwing it away in the 23rd over to Santner’s persistent line and length. This was the trigger for KP to blast the youngster on Twitter. 

“How many times have we seen @RishabPant777 do that?????!!!!! The very reason he wasn’t picked initially! Pathetic!,” Pietersen tweeted.

India were down to 71/5 in the 23rd over as Pant departed. The Men in Blue eventually lost the match by 18 runs, ending a promising World Cup run at the footsteps of the final itself. Many feel that had Pant got through that tight spell, those are 18 runs he could’ve easily made up for in the end. 

But 2011 World Cup winner Yuvraj came to the aid of his young compatriot. Recognizing that the 21-year-old required more time, Yuvi set aside the high stakes of a World Cup final to defend him.

“He’s played 8 Odis ! It’s not his fault he will learn and get better it’s not pathetic at all ! However we all are entitled to share our opinions,” Yuvi tweeted.

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