IND vs BAN 2019: Rohit Sharma Extends His Support to Rishabh Pant

Ever since Rishabh Pant has come in the squad in place of MS Dhoni in the limited-overs, he has been in the news – be it his poor batting or wicket-keeping. Although he was considered as a successor of MS Dhoni, he has been criticising by many as well for his poor show behind the stumps. However, India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma has backed the youngster and said everyone should keep their eyes away from him.

Rishabh Pant has been criticised for his performance in the ongoing series as well. In the first T20I of the ongoing series against Bangladesh, his slow batting and poor DRS calls has become the limelight. In the second T20I match as well, he had a below-par performance with the gloves. His minor error resulting in a missed stumping of Bangladesh batsman Liton Das as he collected the ball in front of the stumps. All these wrong-doing has kept him under the scanner.

However, Rohit Sharma supported Rishabh Pant and added that he is a fearless cricketer and he thinks he will be back in the form soon. He has scored 27 runs in the first T20I in New Delhi and did not get the chance to bat in the second T20I game at Rajkot. The third and final T20I in Nagpur will be a chance for him to step up and also prove his worth.

“You know there is a lot of talk happening about Rishabh Pant every day, every minute. I just feel that he needs to be allowed to do what he wants to do on the field. I would request everyone to keep their eyes away from Rishabh Pant for a while,” stand-in captain Rohit Sharma said on the eve of the final T20I series against Bangladesh.

“He is a fearless cricketer and we (team management) want him to have that freedom. And if you guys take your eyes off him for sometime, it will allow him to perform even better,” he further added.

However, Rohit was not happy with the fact that every move of the youngster in international cricket now-a-days has been scrutinising.

“He is a young guy, 22, trying to make his mark in international cricket. Every move he makes on the field, people start talking about him. It is not fair. I think we should allow him to play his cricket which actually he also wants to do,” he concluded.