Rishabh Pant has been going through a rough patch for a long time now, but despite his low scores, the young wicketkeeper-batter is getting regular opportunities in limited-overs cricket, for which the BCCI and the Indian cricket team have been heavily criticized by former cricketers and fans.
Pant was a big failure in the Asia Cup 2022 and got only a couple of games in the T20 World Cup 2022, but still, the left-hander was backed by Team India and given all the opportunities on the New Zealand tour, where his horrific form continued.
Despite this, he was chosen for the upcoming Bangladesh tour. Notably, Pant had a horror tour of New Zealand, where he registered scores of 6 and 11 in the T20I series and 15 and 10 in the ODI series.
VVS Laxman, NCA head and head coach for the New Zealand tour, has now revealed why the wicketkeeper-batsman was backed on the tour despite his poor batting form.
VVS Laxman told Prime Video: “It's about giving them opportunities and also informing them whenever they aren't picked. Pant has been doing well at no.4, not too long ago he scored an important century at Old Trafford and it's important to back him. T20 cricket has given batters more confidence about clearing the grounds no matter how big the outfields are, they also work a lot with the range-hitting.”
Laxman, who will return to the NCA to resume his role as its chief as the team tours Bangladesh for ODI and Test series, mentioned that he has cherished his role as India's stand-in coach.
He signed off by saying on his coaching stints with Team India, “The coaching role is fully satisfying, obviously it's only a stop-gap arrangement, but it's been fun working with the young guys. It's about the combination you want to play for each game. India is blessed to have a strong depth of talent and bench strength.”
