Ravi Shastri warns Rishabh Pants urges him to improve his shot selection
Indian head coach Ravi Shastri elucidated that Rishabh Pant will be rapped on the knuckles if he dosen’t stop playing impetuous shots like the one he did against the Caribbean side in the recently concluded Test in West Indies.
Ravi Shastri also cited that the youngster has let the team down during India’s recent tour of the West Indies where he was out for a golden duck in an ODI match.
"At times when you see a shot, like the first ball dismissal in Trinidad, if he repeats that, then he will be told. There will be a rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent," Shastri was quoted as saying in an interview with Star Sports. "As simple as that. Because you are letting the team down, forget letting yourselves down. In a situation where you have the captain at the other end, a target to chase, the need of the hour is sensible cricket."
Ravi Shastri stated Rishabh Pant has unquestionable talent but if he can improve his shot-selection and decision-making, he will be unstoppable. "No one will even think of changing his style. Like Virat said, reading the situation, match-awareness and shot-selection becomes crucial. If he can fathom that, he could be unstoppable. It could take one game, it could take four games. He has played so much IPL cricket, he will learn. It's time now for him to step up and show how devastating he can be," Shastri said.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli also spoke about the young wicket keeper batsman.
"The only expectation from Rishabh is that he read situations well," Kohli said. "We don't expect him to play the way you might be thinking. It is about analysing a situation and dealing with it in your own way."
Virat further stated he expects a daring player like Rishabh Pant to keep it simple "Someone like Rishabh will hit five boundaries in a difficult situation compared to me, who likes to take a singles or twos and get out of it. Everyone has their own game but reading the situation and decision-making is an expectation from everyone in the team, not just Rishabh," Kohli said.
After scoring a fifty in the third T20I, Rishabh Pant did not not do anything worth remembering in the entire series. And more frustratingly, he manifested tendency of throwing away his wickets playing rash shots. This has put Pant under a scanner and had also invited a lot of criticisms.
