Pant needs to understand what is required from himself – Rohit Sharma

Rishabh Pant has been an instrumental force in the Indian ranks, particularly in the longest format of the game. Unfortunately for the southpaw, his dismissal in both the innings in the MCG Test has come under the scanner.

Talking in the post-match presser after the MCG Test, Indian captain Rohit Sharma highlighted the fact that Pant will have to look out for himself when it comes to picking the right shots.

Rohit said, “It's [Pant's dismissal] just happened, there hasn't been any discussion about today. Obviously we've lost the game, everybody is disappointed about how things panned out … But again, look, Rishabh Pant obviously he needs to understand what is required from himself.”

Sharma further added, “More than any one of us telling him, it's about him understanding and figuring out what's the right way to go about it. In the past, he has given us a lot of success doing what he does. As a captain, there's a kind of mixed reaction to that.”

Highlighting Pant’s way of playing, Rohit added, “Sometimes you want to back that thought of him playing the way he plays, sometimes when things don't look good, it frustrates everyone. That is what it is, that's the reality. It's the success and failure - need to be balanced about it. As captain, it's hard to have a conversation when it has given him a lot of success as well. But it's about him figuring out what is the right way to do things, it's about situations as well. Certain situations of the game, if there's a risk percentage, do you want to take that risk? Do you want to let the opposition come back into the game? Those are the things he needs to figure out himself.”

Rohit continued, “I've known Rishabh for a long time, [I] understand his cricket as well … In terms of conversations, no way I can say I've not had a chat with him or he doesn't understand what the team expects. He understands that. But things that he does give him results as well, just the fine line between telling him not to do those things or telling him to do those things."