Pant shouldn't confuse fearless cricket with reckless: Batting coach
Rishabh Pant is being touted as India's next big find and an ideal candidate to replace MS Dhoni across formats. However, he has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons, given his reckless style of batting. In the same light, newly appointed Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour explained to him the difference between fearless and careless cricket. Here's more.
"All young cricketers need to understand the difference between fearless cricket and careless cricket. The team wants everyone to play without fear. We want Rishabh to play all his shots. But, you do not want any batsman to be careless and reckless," said Rathour.
Pant has constantly been on the receiving end for his poor shot-selection under pressure situations. Recently, he was also slammed by the Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, post his poor outing in the ODIs of the just-concluded Windies tour, where he could manage just 20 runs in three matches. Shastri has also warned that repetition of the same mistakes would have consequences.
Besides Pant, Rathour said that the side also boasts of talented players like Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer. They will receive everyone's backing, if they deliver consistent performances. "We are fortunate to have so many all-rounders. Manish and Shreyas are two fine cricketers. Manish has done well in the past and Shreyas had a successful tour to Windies," added Rathour.
Rathour also pointed out that Rohit Sharma is a rare talent. He backed his white-ball capabilities, which would come in handy to perform as a Test opener. "He has done so well in white-ball cricket as an opener, so there is no reason why he can't succeed as a Test opener, provided he gets enough opportunities," said Rathour.
"If he comes good, he will be a huge asset for the team. At the moment, I am not too sure what the playing eleven for the first Test will be, but if Rohit does well and is opening, why not," wondered Rathour.
Pant, along with Pandey and Iyer, would be the center of attraction as India prepare to take on South Africa in the second tie of the three-match T20I series at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday. The opening T20I at Dharamsala was washed out.
