'Even Dhoni missed catches and stumpings early in his career'- Pant's coach hits out at critics

Modified Mar 12, 2019 18:33 IST

What's the story?

Rishabh Pant was at the wrong end of things in Mohali and was criticized by many for his poor outing behind the stumps. Tarak Sinha, his coach, hits out at critics, and says that even MS Dhoni missed catches and stumpings early in his career.

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Rishabh Pant had a tough game behind the stumps in Mohali, which India lost by four wickets. Australia chased down a record total and the Indians fans were left in a shock. Dhoni was rested for the game and Pant wore the gloves on Sunday.

It turned out to be a torrid night for the youngster, who fluffed some chances which proved costly for India in the end. There were also chants of 'Dhoni, Dhoni' around the ground and constant booing as Pant missed the chances.

The heart of the matter

Pant missed two huge stumping opportunities in the match. He gave a reprieve to Peter Handscomb in the 39th over and a few overs later, he missed the stumping of Ashton Turner, who turned out to be the match-winner on the night.

Pant received a lot of criticism, especially form the fans, who felt that he was not ready yet to step into Dhoni's shoes. Coach Sinha was quick to jump to his defense and urged fans and experts to show patience with Pant, who is still in his learning curve. The coach was quoted as Indian Express saying:

“Such comparisons are cropping up because, like Dhoni, he (Pant) is also a wicketkeeper-batsman. But it’s unfair on him because it puts undue pressure for him to perform in a particular way, and be like Dhoni. He performs the best when his mind is free.”

"Which keeper in the world hasn’t missed a catch or a stumping? Even Dhoni missed catches and stumpings at the start of his career. The good thing is that the selectors persisted with him and did not drop him after one season. He improved with time to become one of the greats of the game."