Kevin Pietersen Says Rishabh Pant Can Be Absolute Superstar In Indian Cricket
Published - 09 Dec 2019, 03:29 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:02 AM
It was a phase that never really got going for Rishabh Pant of late. The young cricketer was on the receiving end of trolls and abuses for his flop shows with the bat and for being sloppy behind the stumps. However, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came to Pant’s defence by highlighting that the 22-year-old should be given more chances in order to prove himself worthy of a wicket-keeper batsman.
Rishabh Pant, however, tried to repay fans’ faith in the T20I opener against West Indies after he scored 2 brilliant sixes in his 9-ball-18. Tragedy soon followed him around like a shadow as he was dismissed by Sheldon Cottrell. During the second match, Rishabh Pant looked like a different player altogether.
Photo by Vipin Pawar / Sportzpics for BCCI
He made himself comfortable at the crease and was superb right from the word go. Pant made the fans and everyone happy after he scored an unbeaten 22-ball-33 to help India post a decent total of 170/5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. He batted at a strike of 150 and his knock included 3 fours and a six.
Pant needs to be given more time to realise his potential: Kevin Pietersen
Meanwhile, the former England captain Kevin Pietersen reckons that Rishabh Pant needs to be given time to evolve as a complete cricketer as he still has a lot of time to realize his full potential. He highlighted that former players and experts launched a scathing attack on Pant because they want him to learn from his mistakes.
“He is young and he has that energy and enthusiasm, he plays in the IPL, and he plays for India and is just living his dream. There will be a lot of critics around him, he’s only 21 (22). I observed him very closely during the IPL and he kept making the same mistake and when you do that continuously then pundits, experts and people who have played the game want to criticize you because you should be learning from your mistakes,” Pietersen said on Star Sports’ ‘Nerolac Cricket Live’ show.
Kevin Pietersen is certain that Pant can go on to become the next big thing in Indian cricket. “But I never realized he’s 21, I thought he was 24 or 25 because by that age you have matured in your game and at the age of 27-30 is when you are playing your best sport. He will be looked upon on his performance and he is 21 (22), so will he be able to buy the time to be an absolute superstar in Indian cricket is what we need to see, and I think he actually can,” Pietersen signed off.
