“How They Get the Best Out of Rishabh Pant is Completely Based on His Character”: Yuvraj Singh

Former India player Yuvraj Singh has said that suppressing the natural ability of Rishabh Pant is not the right way to proceed. His comment came when he was talking about Pant’s recent struggles with the bat. Yuvraj said the team management needs to understand his thinking process to get the best out of him.

Rishabh Pant has been under the scanner for his “careless” batting in the white-ball format.  He has become the first-choice wicket-keeper in MS Dhoni‘s absence. Although he got the backing of the team management and selectors, head coach Ravi Shastri wasn’t too happy with his batting, saying “there will be a rap on his knuckles” if he continues to do the same mistakes again and again.

After having struggled in West Indies, Pant scored 4 and 19 respectively in the recently-concluded T20I series against South Africa. More often than not, because of his playing, he gifted his wicket away. However, Yuvraj Singh thinks there is time for the T20 World Cup in 2020.

“MS Dhoni was not made in a day. It took a few years so it will take a few years for a replacement also. There is one year to go for the T20 World Cup so that is still a long time,” Yuvraj Singh said as quoted by IANS.

“How they get the best out of Pant is completely based on his character. You have to understand his psychology and then work with that. If you are going to suppress him, you won’t get the best out of him. Yes, he has been given a number of chances but how do you get the best out of him. The people monitoring him in the team — the coaches, the captain — can make a lot of difference,” he further added.

On the other hand, former India opener Gautam Gambhir also opposed the way the team management commented on Rishabh Pant’s recent form. Moreover, Vikram Rathour, the newly-appointed batting coach said that youngsters in the team need to understand the difference between “fearless” and “carless” approach, hinting on Pant’s batting.

It will be interesting to see if the youngster plays for Team India in the upcoming Test series against South Africa. With Wriddhiman Saha in the hut after returning from his long injury-layoff, Pant might be handed a break to work on his approach.