MSK Prasad: “Needs to Be Patient with Rishabh Pant”

MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors has said that they are going to keep an eye on the wicketkeeper batsmen like Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and a few others as backup wicket-keepers to take the pressure off Rishabh Pant. Pant has now become India’s first choice wicket-keeping option in mind in the absence of MS Dhoni in international cricket.

However, he has to face a lot of criticisms as he has failed to score runs, but MSK Prasad feels that they need to be patient with someone as talented as Rishabh Pant.

“I have already said that post World Cup we have been concentrating on the progress of Rishabh. We need to be patient with him, considering the immense talent that he possesses,” Prasad told the Indian Express.

Prasad further said that another youngster K.S. Bharath has also been doing well for India ‘A’ alongside Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. He can also be an option as far as the backup concern.

“We are monitoring the workload of Rishabh. Of course, we have been grooming backups across all formats. We have the young K.S. Bharath doing well in the longer format for India ‘A’. We also have Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson doing well in the shorter formats for India ‘A’ and domestic cricket,” the chief selector further added.

Bharat was part of India ‘A’ team in their first unofficial Test against South Africa ‘A’ while Sanju Samson helped India ‘A’ win the unofficial ODI series against South Africa ‘A’ by 4-1 with an outstanding knock of 91 off 48 balls in the final game.

Earlier, Ravi Shastri also criticised Rishabh Pant, saying that he will be ‘rapped in the knuckles’ soon. He was mostly referring to the youngster’s rash shots against West Indies in the recently-concluded series. The head coach further said that Pant needs to play “sensible cricket” because his reckless batting let the team down.