Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India Head Coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday made it clear that struggling Rishabh Pant has the backing of the entire team management and is an integral part of the set-up leading up to the T20 World Cup Down Under later this year. Pant, who led the side in the five-match series against South Africa that ended in a 2-2 draw after the last game was called off due to rain, managed only 58 runs in the five innings that led to some questions being raised about his place in the shortest format. However, Dravid was very clear that Pant is going nowhere.
“Personally, he would have liked to score a few more runs but it is not concerning him. Certainly, he is a very big part of our plans going ahead in next few months,” Dravid said during the post-match press conference in Bengaluru.
Dravid made it clear that he won’t judge someone on the basis of one poor series.
“I just don’t want to be critical. In the middle overs, you need people to play slightly attacking brand of cricket, to take the game on a little more. Sometimes it’s very hard to judge it based on two or three games,” said Dravid.
The Team India Head coach is ready to look at the bigger picture. According to Dravid, “He (Pant) might go wrong in a few games but he remains an integral part of our batting line-up with the power he has and the fact that he is a left-hander is important to us in the middle overs, he played some good knocks.”
Talking about Pant’s captaincy, Dravid said, “To bring a team back from 0-2 down and to level it at 2-2 and give us a chance to win was good. Captaincy is not about wins and losses only. He (Pant) is a young captain, growing as leader. It is too early to judge him and you don’t want to do that after one series.”
Watch the press conference of Team India Head Coach Rahul Dravid: