In a conversation with India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma in Aap Ki Adalat, Shikhar Dhawan defended Rishabh Pant and said that the wicketkeeper-batsman will bounce back from the rough patch he is currently experiencing.
Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan backed underfire wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to get over his lean spell, which has seen him come under the scanner lately.
Pant's inability to hoard the crease and throw his wicket away drew him criticism from all quarters. Coach Ravi Shastri called him out for playing careless cricket and it didn't stop there as the new Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour also accused Pant of going from' fearless to careless' following his failed tour with the bat in West Indies.
Their public criticism of the wicketkeeper-batsman drew some flak from former India World Cup winners Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, who suggested the team management to sit down with the 21-year-old and speak to him instead of having a go publicly.
Since then, Shastri has come out and defended his comments but also added that Pant is a world-beater and therefore, there is an extra level of patience shown towards the swashbuckling youngster.
And, speaking at India TV's Aap Ki Adalat, Dhawan also backed his Delhi and Team India teammate to come good and have a long career with the national team.
"Rishabh Pant is very talented and I am sure he will play a long innings for India.
"He is trying hard. There are situations when you don't score, but then. you learn from them. It happens with everyone and I'm sure he will learn from it. He is a good player and we need to back good players. Even I went through rough patches in my life, and I still do. It is a part and parcel of this game.
"He recently smashed centuries in England and I'm sure he will do well," Dhawan said.
The 32-year-old, who is currently enjoying time off following the conclusion of the three-match T20I series against South Africa, also praised Jasprit Bumrah for his discipline and mental strength.
Bumrah, 25, was recently ruled out of the three-Test series against the Proteas owing to a stress fracture and was replaced by Umesh Yadav. This was the second time Bumrah missed a series due to an injury after making his Test debut against the same opposition in January 2018 at Cape Town. The previous instance was in England, when he missed the first two games of India's 4-1 series loss to England.
Bumrah has played cricket consistently and remained India's most potent weapon across all formats and recently became the world No.1 in ODIs while is No.3 in Tests. Since making his debut, the Gujarat pacer has snapped 62 wickets from 12 Test matches at an average of 19.2 and Dhawan lauded the speedster for his fitness and success with the ball.
"His bowling action is indeed quite different. Someone told me that he used to practice in the room and the action developed because of his short height (laughs).
"But his action doesn’t really matter because he has emerged as one of the most successful bowlers in the world. He is currently the World No.1 (in ODIs). He is very disciplined about his fitness and mental strength."
Bumrah is set to undergo rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and be monitored by the BCCI medical team.
