Former Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif has revealed that Rishabh Pant was feeling quite low after he could not initially break into India’s 2019 World Cup squad. Kaif stated that Pant is an emotional person and he was not able to get over his exclusion. Mohammad Kaif, who serves as a fielding coach for Delhi Capitals has observed Pant from the close corners.
Meanwhile, Pant was finally able to get into the squad after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to an thumb injury which he suffered during his hundred knock against Australia.
Subsequently, KL Rahul who had batted in the middle order went on to open the innings with Rohit Sharma and Pant got his chances in the middle-order after Vijay Shankar was also injured. However, Pant could not make the most of his opportunity as he scored 116 runs in four matches at an average of 29.
When Pant was not picked for the World Cup, Kaif revealed that he had a word with the youngster. Kaif told Pant that he is still young and there would be more opportunities for him. Hence, he should not lose heart and keep working hard on the process.
“His (Rishabh Pant) name was not there, and he felt quite low. He is quite an emotional person. He started feeling bad immediately afterwards that he was not selected,” Kaif said while talking to Aakash Chopra on Akash Vani.
“We picked up on those things. So, we spoke to him a lot. We told him – ‘you are quite young, at the age of 20-21, a player just starts his career. You have already made a name for yourself. You have already won the matches for your team.’
Pant had shown good form in the IPL 2019 and it played a role in his World Cup selection when the opportunity came. The southpaw batsman had scored 488 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.54 and a blistering strike rate of 162.67. However, Pant could not repeat the same in the World Cup.
Rishabh Pant has got the talent and he needs to make the most of his skills. Pant can hit the ground running but he needs to grab his opportunities. The southpaw hasn’t quite done justice to his talent especially in the white-ball format, which is expected to be his forte.
