Rishabh Pant showed a glimpse of his IPL form for India on Tuesday when he guided the Men in Blue home in their chase against the West Indies in the third and final T20I of the series.
Pant showed great maturity and remained not out on 65 off 42 balls as India won by 7 wickets to complete the series whitewash. Following the game, he earned praise from captain Virat Kohli and some backing as he urged people to be patient with the southpaw.
"We are looking at him (Pant) as the future. He has got a lot of skill and lot of talent. It is about giving him some space and not putting too much of pressure," Kohli.
Kohli also said that he feels that Pant will soon start finishing games more consistently.
"He's come a long way since he's started. It's about winning and finishing games like these. In international cricket, you need to tackle pressure differently. If he plays like this regularly, we will see his potential shine for India," he added said.
Following the game, Pant spoke to Rohit Sharma in an interview to BCCI.tv and said that he does he get frustrated when the runs don't come but for him, it has always been follow the process that made you what you are.
"There are various times that I get frustrated when I don't get the runs. Then I think what different things I could have done to perform. There are times when I take the right decision and even then I am not able to perform. It happens in cricket and is part and parcel of the game."
"But what I try to do always is to focus on my basics, trust my instincts and just follow the process," Pant said.
"Felt really good about my innings. I was not able to score runs and was getting frustrated. But, I kept following my process and it fetched the desired results today," he added.
Talking about his 106-run partnership with captain Virat Kohli, the 21-year-old said, "When I and Virat bhaiya were playing, we were thinking of stitching together a big partnership and take the game deep and then accelerate in the last seven-eight overs."
The Delhi lad has been time and again criticized for his shot selection and temperament. Even during the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, Pant had come under fire after he threw away the start he got and gifted his wicket while attempting a hoick to spinner Mitchell Santner, thus leaving India at sixes and sevens during chase of 240 which they ultimately failed to chase down.
The left-handed batsman, who has been termed as future of the Indian team by the skipper himself, doesn't get bogged down by the pressure. "Sometimes I feel the pressure, sometimes I enjoy. But at the end of the day, what matters for me is that the entire team, including senior members, have trust in me and that gives me a huge amount of confidence because then you know that even if you fail to perform in one or two innings, the team will back you. Thus, support from teammates is a huge confidence booster."
(With inputs from IANS)
