We Will Definitely Continue To Back Rishabh Pant: Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli has backed Rishabh Pant’s natural instincts, stating that he does not want the swashbuckling 23-year-old to lose his positivity and that the management will continue to back his style of play in the forthcoming future.

Rishabh Pant came in for criticism for the manner in which he went about his business with the bat in India’s second innings on the reserve day of the World Test Championship final.

It was a typical Pant knock where he threw caution to the wind in search of quick runs against a relentless New Zealand seam-bowling attack.

Rishabh Pant’s innings eventually came to an end when he danced down the track to smash Trent Boult over deep midwicket but he ended up top-edging it and Henry Nicholls did the rest by taking a brilliant catch while running backward.

Social media lambasted Rishabh Pant for his choice of a shot at that stage but Virat Kohli, in the post-match presser, proceeded to defend the enigmatic 23-year-old, stating that the management will continue to back his natural instincts rather than curbing his belief of finding ways to put the opposition under pressure.

“Look, Rishabh is just going to be a very expressive player whenever he gets an opportunity. Whenever there is a situation that needs to be understood, I think he assesses it really well. When things don’t come off, you can say that it was an error of judgment and that’s acceptable in sport, but we don’t want him to lose his positivity or his optimism in changing the situation for the team, and that’s where his USP lies,” said Virat Kohli during a virtual press conference.

“We will definitely continue to back him to play that way and find ways to put pressure on the opposition and find ways to score runs, which is his natural game. We’re not too worried about that. I think it’s up to him to understand whether it was an error of judgment and rectify it moving forward because he has a long career with the Indian team, and certainly someone who could be a match maker for India on consistently many occasions in the future,” he added.

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