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There Will be a Rap on the Knuckles, Says Shastri to Rishabh Pant
By Shruti - Sep 16, 2019 12:22 pm
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India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that Rishabh Pant will be “rapped on the knuckels” if he keeps on playing rash shots like the way he did during the West Indies series recently.

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant

“We’ll let him be but at times when you see a shot, like the first ball dismissal in Trinidad, if he repeats that, then he will be told. There will be a rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent,” Shastri was quoted as saying in an interview with Star Sports. “As simple as that. Because you are letting the team down, forget letting yourselves down. In a situation where you have the captain at the other end, a target to chase, the need of the hour is sensible cricket.”

Ravi Shastri said Rishabh Pant has immense talent but if he can work on his shot-selection and decision-making, he will be unstoppable.

Read here: Ravi Shastri, Shikhar Dhawan Discuss Cricket Over “Coffee”

“No one will even think of changing his style. Like Virat said, reading the situation, match-awareness and shot-selection becomes crucial. If he can fathom that, he could be unstoppable. It could take one game, it could take four games. He has played so much IPL cricket, he will learn. It’s time now for him to step up and show how devastating he can be,” Shastri said.

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant

Kohli, on the other hand, said he wants Rishabh Pant to play according to the situations.

“The only expectation from Rishabh is that he read situations well,” Kohli said. “We don’t expect him to play the way you might be thinking. It is about analysing a situation and dealing with it in your own way.”

“Someone like Rishabh will hit five boundaries in a difficult situation compared to me, who likes to take a singles or twos and get out of it. Everyone has their own game but reading the situation and decision-making is an expectation from everyone in the team, not just Rishabh,” Kohli concluded.