Former South African cricketer Lance Klusener backs underfire Rishabh Pant, says he should be allowed to play freely

Not many months ago, wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was seen as a natural heir to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But the 22-year-old has not been able to meet the expectations, thanks to a series of ordinary performances both with the bat and gloves. His two dashing international hundreds in Tests have started fading from the supporters’ memory and now the Indian selectors have come under criticism for persisting with him and not giving chances to those like Sanju Samson.

Former South Africa all-rounder and currently the head coach of Afghanistan, Lance Klusener, has come up in support of Pant when he is under tremendous pressure to perform. He has backed the Delhi youngster to come good in the absence of the legendary Dhoni and ultimately succeed him in the future.

Speaking to the federal, the 48-year-old former dashing all-rounder spoke on several issues related to Indian cricket and there, he expressed his opinion on Pant as well.

‘Rishabh Pant is absolutely outstanding’: Lance Klusener

“Rishabh is absolutely outstanding but he has a lot of learning to do. He is still young and is happy to play by the seat of his pants. He was with me in Delhi (Daredevils). He just needs to absorb all the information and learn as much as he can,”  Lance Klusener, who had almost taken his country to its maiden World Cup final in 1999 but failed to create history by a whisker, said.

Klusener said Pant has got the backing of the selectors and he should be allowed to play to emerge as a marvellous prospect. Pant recently made a fifty against the West Indies in the ODI series at home but failed at the crunch moment in the deciding game in Cuttack.

“As MS Dhoni starts to wind up his career, I can’t really see a better keeper-batsman in white-ball cricket, than what you have in Rishabh,” said Klusener as quoted by TimesNow.

Rishabh Pant scored a hundred in his debut Test series in England last year and then smashed a big unbeaten ton in Australia earlier this year. But even as those two knocks set up the foundation for him to excel, the Delhi keeper-batsman started fumbling, perhaps because he found the pressure of international cricket too much to absorb.

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