"That was one of the reasons why we got Ishan Kishan" - Rohit Sharma on India missing Rishabh Pant in IND vs AUS Test series
India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted that the hosts are dearly missing the services of Rishabh Pant in the ongoing Test series against Australia. Pant met with a horrific car accident at the end of last year and has been ruled out for a long time with multiple injuries.
The way Pant used to score those quick runs and bail his team out of tricky situations is something India really needed in the Indore Test. Rohit claimed that Pant's absence was one of the main reasons why the team roped in Ishan Kishan as KS Bharat's backup.
While speaking to reporters ahead of the fourth Test, here's what Rohit Sharma said about Rishabh Pant's importance to the Indian team:
"Not having Pant is definitely a huge loss. We know what he is capable of with the bat and his keeping has been a huge plus over the past couple of years.
"So he is a big miss and when we knew he wasn’t going to be available to us, that was one of the reasons why we got Ishan Kishan in. He is a left-hander and can play attacking shots."
Rohit Sharma backs KS Bharat to come good with the bat
There has been a lot of talk about KS Bharat's batting and how he is nowhere near as effective as Rishabh Pant so far. However, Rohit feels that Bharat has experience playing domestic cricket and needs a longer rope to prove his mettle.
On this, Rohit Sharma stated:
"Bharat has played a lot of domestic cricket, zonal, India A and so on. It will be slightly unfair to judge him on these pitches. When someone makes his debut in a series, it is important to give him room to set himself up for a big score.
"I spoke to him at the start of the series that ‘Do not worry about the kind of pitches that we will be playing on. You will get enough time to prove yourself’ because these pitches are not easy."
It will be interesting to see if Ishan Kishan makes his Test debut by replacing KS Bharat in the Ahmedabad Test, starting on Thursday.