Rohit backs Pant, urge critics to leave him alone

XtraTime Web Desk: India’s stand in captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday firmly stood behind Rishabh Pant, urging the critics to leave the youngster alone. Pant has been under-fire for his poor shot selection compounded with schoolboy error behind the stumps. The wicket keeper batsman has been under the scanner on several occasions in recent times.

“You know there is a lot of talk happening about Rishabh Pant every day, every minute. I just feel that he needs to be allowed to do what he wants to do on the field. I would request everyone to keep their eyes away from Rishabh Pant for a while,” said Rohit said on the eve of the T20 series decider against Bangladesh at Nagpur.

“He is a fearless cricketer and we (team management) want him to have that freedom. And if you guys take your eyes off him for sometime, it will allow him to perform even better,” added Rohit.

Not so long ago, Pant was the preferred choice in all three formats but Wriddhiman Saha played ahead of him in the three Tests against South Africa at home last month only on the basis of superior glovework.

According to Rohit,“He is a young guy, 22, trying to make his mark in international cricket. Every move he makes on the field, people start talking about him. It is not fair. I think we should allow him to play his cricket which actually he also wants to do,”

Pant, who showed enough promise with his two test tons against Australia and England has not been able to carry his IPL form into the T20 Internationals, having scored 352 runs in 22 games at 20.70.

Rohit suggested everyone to look at Pant’s better performances on the field rather than continuously criticizing him. “Focus on him a lot more when he is doing good things also, not just bad things. He has been learning, there have been times he has kept well also. He is trying to do what the team management wants him to do,” signed off Rohit.