Virat Kohli also rejected the noise around Ajinkya Rahane’s form ahead of 2nd Test at Lord's.
Indian captain Virat Kohli has backed Rishabh Pant to continue his swashbuckling style of batting and take his chances wherever there is a situation when he feels he can change the game in his team’s favor with his attacking intent and skill in the ongoing five-match Test series in England.
The left-hander has been one of the game-changers and played some memorable knocks in the middle-order for the Indian cricket team in the last couple of Test series and even the wicket-keeper got a great start in the first Test against England, but couldn’t convert into the big scores.
In the first drawn Test at Trent Bridge, Pant played a quickfire cameo of 25 runs with the help of 3 fours and one six in the first innings, but failed to convert the start in to the big one and surrendered to Ollie Robinson after just 20 balls against England last week.
Pant was again criticized for losing his wicket due to his natural attacking instincts; however, Kohli backed the youngster to continue batting the way he has been doing while not compromising on his attacking intent ahead of the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday, August 12.
The Indian skipper further said Pant is intelligent enough to understand when he needs to get defensive and when to attack; hence he will take the chance in the ongoing Test series against England.
Kohli said during a virtual press conference at Lord’s: “That is basically how he plays. He has the capability to carry on and play long innings in that manner. It necessarily does not have to be a very defensive role, when there is the demand of the situation; he is intelligent enough to understand. If we are looking to save a game, you would not see him play those kinds of shots. Wherever there is a 50-50 situation and he can change the game, he will take the chance.”
He further added, “That's how he plays and that is who he is. We want him to be that way. From Rishabh, we expect that he plays the innings that changes the momentum of the game and take that balance towards us. He is going to play this way.”
The skipper also shushed the noise around Ajinkya Rahane’s form ahead of the second Test against England.
He added, “I do not think that is an area of concern. Our basic focus is not to think about where are people individually at the moment, collectively how much strength they bring into the team is our focus. As a batting unit, we are looking to perform in difficult conditions so that we are in winning positions and someone is going to put their hand up every game.”
Kohli continued, “Last match, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh with the cameo, they were outstanding. Rohit gave us a solid start as well so look people are going to contribute every now and then. You need to understand as a side, what is the best batting outfit you can present on the park.”
He signed off by saying on injured Shardul Thakur, “The good thing is that Jadeja has got runs in the first game already, so he will go into the second game confident. That already makes our batting a bit deeper, the lower-order contributed with the bat as well.
Shardul brings in more batting ability but having said that, from the batsmen's point of view, we are well placed. Pujara, Rahane, and I did not score too many, every game is an opportunity for other batsmen to step up as well.”
(With ANI Inputs)