‘There is no point…’ – Virat Kohli’s childhood coach opines on Rishabh Pant’s continued poor form
Virat Kohli’s childhood coach opines on Rishabh Pant’s continued poor form (Image Source: Twitter)
Rishabh Pant, the Indian batter, is going through one of the rough phases of his life and the batter has failed to contribute to the Indian batting order in the white-ball format. Given that team India have played very less matches in the format this year, Pant’s 46 against Bangladesh in the first Test earned him respect and many opined that he continues to be impressive in the longest format of the game.
As things stand, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma opened up on the southpaw and said that the Indian batter cannot be forced to bat responsibly, given that it would affect his natural style of play. Saying that it would affect his gameplay, Rajkumar claimed that it would be better to let Pant play in his own way.
There’s no point in forcing him to play responsibly: Rajkumar Sharma
Saying that people troll him when the batter plays an aggressive shot and gets out, Rajkumar added that it was the same set of people who praise him if he does something out of the box. Notably, Pant’s knock at the Gabba during the Australia series in 2020/21 still remains to be the best knock he has ever played for the Indian team.
“When Rishabh Pant’s shots come off, people call him a match-winner. But when he is caught a couple of feet inside the boundary, people call him irresponsible. I feel when you have such a stroke player, you should take the chance and let him play his natural game. There’s no point in forcing him to play responsibly. I just hope he takes more calculative risks because he is a senior player in the team now,” Rajkumar was quoted as saying to India News.
“Pujara’s role has always been to hold one end and let the other batters bat around him. However, he showed that when the team needed quick runs, he was ready to take on the opposition bowlers. This shows that he is a true team man and this is a sign of a great team that different players are ready to adapt according to the situation,” he added when asked about Cheteshwar Pujara.
