Ravi Shastri opens up on Rishabh Pant's failures, says he needs to improve his shot selection
What's the story?
India's head coach Ravi Shastri recently opened up on the constant failures of Rishabh Pant, saying that the youngster needs to play sensible cricket and not let himself and his team down with his poor shot selection.
In case you didn't know...
Pant has failed to play as per the situation of the match in the last few games, be it in the 2019 World Cup or the series against the West Indies. The Delhi-based wicket-keeper has often thrown away his wicket while trying to play an aggressive shot.
A perfect case in point being the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup, where Pant only had to stitch a good partnership with Hardik Pandya in the middle. However, the left-hander tried to hit a six on the leg side, only to caught by Colin de Grandhomme in the deep.
Similarly, he had been guilty of gifting his wicket to the opposition on the recent tour to the West Indies.
The heart of the matter
In an interview with Star Sports, Shastri gave his opinion on Pant's shot selection and stated,
"When you see a shot like the one in Trinidad, off the first ball, [it's disappointing]. He tries to repeat it a couple of times and gets out, he will be told."
He added that irrespective of the talent one possesses, one cannot let the team down with his poor shot selection.
"There will be a rap on the knuckles there - talent or no talent - because you are letting the team down, forget letting yourself down. You are letting the team down in a situation where you have the captain at the other end. You have a target to chase where the need of the hour is some sensible cricket."
The coach concluded by saying that if Pant got his shot selection right, he would be unstoppable. Also, he stated that the youngster has played enough IPL cricket and now, he has to show the world how devastating he can be.
What's next?
Pant will don the Indian jersey when India takes on South Africa in the 2nd T20I on the 18th of September at Mohali.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IND vs SA schedule, IND vs SA head to head, news, results, points table, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.