We Are Nurturing Back-Ups For Rishabh Pant, Says MSK Prasad

Team India’s wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has failed to live upto the expectations in recent times. As speculations over his place in the playing XI rises gradually, chief selector MSK Prasad has revealed that they are grooming back-ups for Pant across formats.

Pant came up the ranks as a first-choice replacement of MS Dhoni. In his first tour as the first-choice wicket-keeper batsman, Pant has an awful time in West Indies. He returned with only half-century across the three formats and gave away his wickets playing rash shots.

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Nothing changed in the first T20I as Rishabh Pant played an unnecessary shot to throw away his wicket. Critics have come down hard on the young cricketer which have forced MSK Prasad led selection committee look for other options.

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The former India cricketer handpicked a few names who have done relatively well in the domestic cricket as the possible options to replace Rishabh Pant.

“We are monitoring the workload of Rishabh. Of course, we have been grooming backups across all formats. We have the young KS Bharath doing well in the longer format for India A. We also have Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson doing well in the shorter formats for India ‘A’ and domestic cricket,” Prasad said.

However, MSK Prasad has thrown his support to the struggling Rishabh Pant as of now. Previously, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have also backed the 21-year-old cricketer.  The selection panel has undertaken a slow and steady process before coming down hard on Pant.

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“I have already said that post World Cup we have been concentrating on the progress of Rishabh. We need to be patient with him, considering the immense talent that he possesses,” Prasad concluded.