IND vs WI 2019: “We Certainly Believe in Rishabh’s Ability” – Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli has backed the out-of-form Rishabh Pant lent his support to the youngster and said that the team has belief in his ability. Hence, he has got all the support by the management and has been named in the squad for the series against West Indies.

“We certainly believe in Rishabh’s ability. As you say, it’s (also) the player’s responsibility to do well, but our responsibility is to give him space, to support him. He should get support and it is disrespectful if you don’t get it,” Virat Kohli said on the eve of the first T20I game.

Virat Kohli further said that Rishabh Pant should be left alone. After having a dream debut, he was considered as the successor of former India captain MS Dhoni. However, he has seen a drastic change soon and faced huge criticisms from everyone for his poor batting and skills behind the stumps.

“As Rohit (Sharma) said recently, he needs to be left alone, he is a match-winner. Once he comes good, you will see a very different version of him. He can’t be isolated to such an extent that he doesn’t do well. We are here to do things for him,” he added.

In the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, Pant was criticised for his slow batting and poor decision-making which left stand-in captain Rohit Sharma taking a wrong DRS calls. After that, Rohit Sharma had also asked everyone to leave Pant alone and allow him to do his work.

“You know there is a lot of talk happening about Rishabh Pant every day, every minute. I just feel that he needs to be allowed to do what he wants to do on the field. I would request everyone to keep their eyes away from Rishabh Pant for a while,” Rohit had said. “He is a fearless cricketer and we (team management) want him to have that freedom. And if you guys take your eyes off him for sometime, it will allow him to perform even better.”