"Similar conversations about Pujara seem to have disappeared" - Virat Kohli defends Rishabh Pant after Headingley defeat

Virat Kohli has come forward in young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant's defense after India stumbled to a massive defeat at Headingley. The skipper cited the example of Cheteshwar Pujara's return to form, stating that the No. 3 batsman was facing criticism similar to Pant which "seems to have disappeared" now.

Rishabh Pant is one of the lowest scorers for India in the series so far. Batting at No. 6, he has succumbed to high-pressure situations by trying to break free with half-hearted shots after repeated failures from the middle order. At Headingley, he was tasked with rebuilding India's innings with the tail but got out for a 7-ball 1, edging a wayward push to the slips.

However, Virat Kohli said one loss won't send India into panic mode and reiterated that he wants to give Rishabh Pant "space" while nudging him to take "responsibility."

"Well, again, as I said, with one loss I can't assess or start analyzing that as a captain. Definitely the management isn't going to start doing that because we are not failing as a team, as in, consistently we are not losing. We certainly failed in this game and we take responsibility for that. And similar conversations were being initiated about Pujara as well which seem to have disappeared after yesterday so we want to give Rishabh, as I have said before, all the space to play his game and understand the situations and take responsibility like is expected of everyone else in the batting order," said Kohli in the post-match press-conference.

1st Inning - 22nd Inning - 1Today is 1st time, Rishabh Pant got out on Single Digit Score in both test Inning#INDvENG

— 🏏CʀɪᴄMᴏᴠɪᴇs📹 (@Cric_Movies04) August 28, 2021

Cheteshwar Pujara, whose recent career has seen a similar trajectory to Rishabh Pant, was the highest scorer in the first innings with a positive 91. Apart from him, only Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scored half-centuries as India couldn't go past 278 and lost the Test by an innings and 76 runs.

"That's not how you make a team" - Virat Kohli against judging Rishabh Pant on just stats

England win the third #ENGvIND Test at Headingley & level the series 1-1 against #TeamIndia. We will look to bounce back in the fourth Test, starting September 2. Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/FChN8SDsxh pic.twitter.com/bwV926w2Vt

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 28, 2021

Virat Kohli further opined that players can't always be judged on just stats and their recent form because that's against team building. He said the visitors will preserve all the detailed analysis for after the series.

"You can't judge people all the time on numbers and whether they are succeeding or failing. That's not how you make a team. There's still time in the series. After two more Test matches, we can look back, reflect and analyze like, 'Okay, these are the areas that were not quite right'. But at this moment, it's not the time," Virat Kohli added.

The series is now piquantly balanced at 1-1. The next match will kick off in less than a week's time on September 2 at The Oval.