Rishabh Pant appreciates captain Virat Kohli for backing youngsters

Though he impressed with his batting skills and the record of taking five catches in an innings in his debut Test, Rishabh Pant’s glovework behind the stumps has a lot of scope to improve. And with India set to play the Windies in two Tests at home starting Thursday, he will have more challenges in keeping against the spinners and accordingly, has set eyes on self-improvement during the series.

Pant hit a magnificent hundred in the final Test at the Kennington Oval and gave India an outside hope about a win along with KL Rahul though it did not eventually materialise. Former Indian wicketkeepers were, however, more worried about his keeping skills and national chief selector MSK Prasad, a former national keeper himself, even said that they would take special care of the 20-year-old Delhi cricketer.

Pant is focused on improving both his keeping and batting skills as he believes that one improves with training. However, one thing that has really helped the aggressive batsman is the encouragement he received from his captain Virat Kohli.

Kohli was all praise for Pant when he hit a ton at Oval

In a show on IndiaTV named ‘Cricket Ki Baat’, Pant appreciated his captain during the England series for the latter’s encouraging words. Kohli praised Pant after the wicket-keeper-batsman hit his ton at the Oval in the post-match presentation, when he said: “I was thinking when I was watching him (Pant), when you get into a zone and when you are not thinking about the result, things go your way. It was just a great preview of what is in store for him individually and for Indian cricket.”

“As a youngster, it feels good when your captain backs you. It builds your confidence. I will look to capitalise on the opportunities I get in future after a Test ton in England,” Pant mentioned.

Speculation is also rife that Pant could replace veteran Indian wicket-keeper MS Dhoni whose batting form has only fallen over the past few months and questions are being raised time and again whether he should still be considered an automatic choice for the team.

[interaction id=”5bb1d750b2ce12b5dad8c3d6″]

For more news and developments, stay tuned on CricTracker.com.