Virat Kohli asked the fans to support Pant and not chant ‘Dhoni Dhoni’ whenever he makes a mistake. Former skipper and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had a different opinion on it and he believes that he would have let Pant find a solution to it rather than telling people to stop.
The first Indian wicket-keeper to smash Test centuries in England and Australia, Rishabh Pant’s career graph has gone downhill after the tour down under where he became his ‘careless’ shot selection and ordinary glovework has attracted a lot of criticism and pressure.
He will be under more and more pressure as his failures keep piling. This is when Team India captain Virat Kohli stepped in and asked the fans not to make it even tougher for the youngster.
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Ganguly otherwise stated, “I think it's good for him because he will get used to it. I personally feel the pressure is something that he needs to get used to. When he played for Delhi last year, he was one of the main players. He played in front of a packed house. Taking responsibility wasn't an issue.”
“If I were Virat Kohli, I would just let him go through it, let him hear it and find ways to succeed. Everybody must remember that you don't get MS Dhoni's every day. He is a once-in-a-generation cricketer. MS Dhoni, also, when he started was not MS Dhoni. It took him 15 years to be MS Dhoni. It will take Rishabh Pant also close to 15 years to be even close to what MS Dhoni is today,” he added.
The former captain also spoke about how the second season is always tougher because of the expectations. Every player learns to deal with pressure in the second season and Pant will learn too.
“Remember, the second season is always the toughest. When he came on to the scene, he set the world on fire with hundreds in Australia and England. Not many Indian wicketkeepers have done that. Your second season is very important. He will be under pressure. Let him deal with it. He has to go through it on his own,” he said.
His advice was, “Don't address that issue too much so that it makes him conscious. Let him address it. Let me tell you, he is a serious serious player. I am sure he will one of the greats in the years to come.”
(Inputs from India Today)
