New Delhi: Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is on the target of critics for his poor form. Meanwhile, India's head coach Rahul Dravid has made a big announcement. He made it clear that Rishabh Pant is a "big" and "integral" part of the preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year. In fact, Pant, who captained the team in the five-match T20 series against South Africa, has scored only 58 runs in 5 innings, raising questions about his place in the shortest format.
However, Dravid has made it clear that Pant will continue in the team. Dravid, after levelling the series at 2-2 due to rain in the fifth match, said, "Personally, he would have liked to score a few more runs, but it doesn't belong to him. He is definitely a very big part of our plans in the next few months." In fact, Dravid was impressed with Pant's strike rate of over 158 during IPL 2022, with the wicketkeeper-batsman scoring 340 runs for Delhi Capitals, which was not as expected.
Dravid's opinion was clear that he would not judge a player on the basis of a series, whether it was batting or captaincy. Dravid said, "I don't want to take a critical attitude. A little aggressive cricket is required to be played in the middle overs. Sometimes it is difficult to assess on the basis of two or three games," Dravid said, adding, "I think his performance in the IPL in terms of strike rate was very fantastic, even though in terms of average it didn't look that much better. In the IPL, he wanted to do better (in terms of average) and maybe three years ago he got a good average by scoring a lot of runs."
Dravid further said, "We are hoping that he will be able to achieve this figure at the international level." Regarding Pant's captaincy, Dravid feels that he played a key role by bringing the team back after losing the first two matches of the series. Dravid said, "It was a good performance to give the team a 0-2 comeback, level the series 2-2 and create chances of victory. Captaincy is not just about winning and losing. Pant is a young captain and is learning. It is too early to assess them now and it can't be done after a series."
Keshav Maharaj is a great devotee of Bajrang Bali, father Atmanand has also been a cricketer
