Manchester: Rishabh Pant is already regretting his poor shot-selection and will grow into a mature batsman with time, India skipper Virat Kohli said backing the young batsman, facing flak for throwing away his wicket in Wednesday’s semifinal.
Citing his own example, Kohli said he too committed a lot of avoidable mistakes during the early days of his career and hoped Pant will also learn. Pant had done all the hard work to steady the innings after the team was reeling at 24 for four. He was well set, batting at 32 but got out while attacking spinner Mitchell Santner. “He’s still young. I made many errors when I was young in my career and he will learn. He will look back and think yes, he could have chosen a different option in that situation and he realises that already,” Kohli strongly came to the youngster’s defence.
In fact, the skipper wanted to look at the positive aspect that how he rebuilt the innings along with Hardik Pandya. “He (Pant) is an instinctive player and did well to overcome that situation and stringing a partnership with Hardik (Pandya). I think the way they played after the loss of three wickets, four wickets rather, was quite commendable. I am sure he will reflect on it and he will come out stronger,” he said.
The skipper was seen animatedly discussing a point with coach Ravi Shastri immediately after Pant holed out in the deep. However he said it’s the player who suffers the most after committing an error. “So all these guys have a lot of pride and passion to play for their country and they are the ones who feel the most disappointed when a mistake happens. From the outside it looks like it was an error but the person who makes it, trust me, they are the ones who suffer the most with it.”
For the skipper, Pant is one for the future with the kind of talent he possesses. ‘The talent is there for everyone to see and the character is there, but, as I said, yes, a few shots (refers to Hardik Pandya), not just Rishabh’s. But that happens in sport. You make errors, you make decisions which are not right at that time and you have to accept it.’