'He is changing his game, give him some time' - Yuvraj Singh on Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has become a huge topic of discussion in recent times. Since MS Dhoni is almost at the twilight of his career now, the 21-year-old is being looked at as a future option. Of course, there have been questions raised about his style of play and aggressiveness. But, former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, has backed the Delhi lad to come good. He said that Pant is changing his game and he wants him to be given some time.

Yuvraj Singh said that Rishabh Pant is a bit confused with his shot selection. But, he liked Rishabh Pant trying to spend some time in the middle in the 1st T20I against Bangladesh. Yuvi said that there should be a certain amount of time given to a player and that he should be given maximum opportunities in this time.

“I won’t say he (Pant) is confused. He is a bit not sure whether to hit the ball or rotate the strike. Last night he was batting run a ball and got out. The good thing to see was he was taking a bit of time. He is the kind of guy, who can go straightaway go after bowling and who can also take time to go after bowling.”

“He has only played 8-10 ODIs, so you got to give that guy a bit of time. You’ve to back your guys and say: ‘ok, we’ve got to give this guy six months or a year to get better and try and play him as much as you can wherever you think he fits well and play.”

You have got to groom your guys better

Yuvraj Singh seemed hardly impressed with India leaving out Pant for the recent Tests against South Africa. He said that youngsters should be groomed better. Furthermore, he added that people don’t realise that Rishabh Pant was an opener. The former cricketer noted that the wicket-keeper needs time to settle in the new roles.

“Him not playing the Test match was not a great call, somebody who has scored 2 international 100s outside India and scored two 90s against West Indies, I don’t understand, his keeping could have been a concern but I think you got to groom your guys better,” opined Yuvraj.

“He is a good No.4, No.5. Obviously, people don’t realise that Rishabh was an opener. He always wanted to open the innings and he would go big, opening. He is not the guy who knows how to rotate strike and then go big. He is trying to do that. That’s why you need to give him time. He is changing his game, we got to give him some time,” he said as reported by NDTV.

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