Gautam Gambhir blasts team management over treatment of Rishabh Pant

Mumbai: Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir has criticised the Indian national team’s management over their treatment of Rishabh Pant. The youngster has come under a lot of scrutinies recently after a string of bad performances. Team India head coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Vikram Rathour have spoken on Rishabh Pant’s carelessness.

Gambhir, in his column for The Times of India, wrote, “Personally, I have always backed Sanju Samson ahead of Rishabh for wicketkeeper-batsman's role but it is disappointing to see the team-management using words like 'from fearless to careless', 'rap on Rishabh's knuckles' and 'need for a backup of Rishabh'."

He added, “This is no way to handle a young human resource. Everyone wants him to play 'sensible' cricket. I don't know what that means. What I do know is that the boy is now playing for survival rather than scoring runs. From the outside, it seems that his mindset is all over the place. Someone needs to put an arm around his shoulder and tell him that he is wanted in the team."

Even MSK Prasad, Chief of selectors, said that backups for Rishabh Pant are being groomed across all formats. He said, “We are monitoring the workload of Rishabh. Of course, we have been grooming backups across all formats. We have the young KS Bharath doing well in the longer format for India 'A'. We also have Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson doing well in the shorter formats for India 'A' and domestic cricket."