If I Was Virat Kohli, I Would Let Rishabh Pant To Go Through Dhoni Chants: Sourav Ganguly

Rishabh Pant is yet to prove himself worthy of being a potential wicketkeeper-batsman for the Indian national cricket team. He has come under severe criticism for his string of flop shows of late and was also sloppy behind the stumps. Fans have come with MS Dhoni chants whenever Pant has failed to put up good shows and recently skipper Virat Kohli urged the crowd not to do that. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly thinks otherwise and feels he would not have done that if he was in Kohli’s shoes.

Since the series against West Indies just after the World Cup, Rishabh Pant has managed to amass only one half-century in T20Is. His performance in the ODIs is also not worth talking about and amidst all, he lost his place to Wriddhiman Saha in the red-ball format. Moreover, with Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan waiting in the wings, Pant is feeling the pressure which has affected his natural game.

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Let Pant find ways to succeed: Sourav Ganguly

After Kiran More, India skipper Virat during the pre-match press conference urged the crowd to support the struggling Rishabh Pant. But Sourav Ganguly believes it is essential for Pant to go through all these as the young Delhi cricketer needs to acclimatise to the pressure.

“I think it’s good for him because he will get used to it. I personally feel pressure is something which he needs to get used to. When he played for Delhi last year, he was one of the main players. He played in front of a packed houses. Taking responsibility wasn’t an issue,” Sourav Ganguly said at India Today Conclave East 2019.

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“If I were Virat Kohli, I would just let him go through it, let him hear it and find ways to succeed. Everybody must remember that you don’t get MS Dhoni’s every day. He is a once-in-a-generation cricketer. MS Dhoni, also, when he started was not MS Dhoni. It took him 15 years to be MS Dhoni. It will take Rishabh Pant also close to 15 years to be even close to what MS Dhoni is today,” he added. 

Speaking further, the former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels the second season is always tricky for a player. He urged everyone to give Rishabh Pant to deal with his own problems and sounded confident that he will be one of the greats for India in the years to come.