The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli came out in support of the young wicket-keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant during the pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20I against the West Indies on Friday. Virat reckons that it is not respectful to shout MS Dhoni’s name in the stadium to mock the young wicket-keeper batsman.

Pant is being groomed across formats to fill in the big boots of Dhoni, but he has failed more often than not which prompted fans to mock him time and again. Kohli feels every player deserves to be supported while playing in their own country.

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Talking to the media persons, Kohli said, “I think it’s a collective responsibility for everyone around us as well to give that player (Rishabh Pant) some space. If he misses a chance or something, you know, people can’t shout MS’ (MS Dhoni) name in the stadium, it’s not respectful if I have to put it that way, because no player would like that to happen. You’re playing in your own country and you should get support, rather than thinking what mistake is he going to make, no one wants to be in that position.”

It might be possible that Pant will be getting a final chance in the ODIs and T20Is against the West Indies to prove his mettle and silence his critics. Kohli outlined that the fast bowling unit is more or less settled and there is just one spot up for grabs for the World Cup.

Virat explained, “The fight obviously is for one spot and I think more or less three guys have made a place for themselves. It’s going to be a healthy competition and it will be interesting to see how it pans out.”

With Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami locked in to travel to Australia, the toss-up will be between Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed.

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Kohli elaborated, “It’s not that big an issue for us. I think Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah are experienced bowlers. They have been very consistent in T20 cricket. Deepak (Chahar) has come in and has bowled really well. (Mohammed) Shami is coming back and he is bowling really well. If he gets into a rhythm and specifically works on what’s required in T20 cricket then he will be very, very useful in places like Australia, especially with his ability to pick wickets with the new ball.”