Rishabh Pant has to be mentally strong to face criticism: Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has opined that Rishabh Pant needs to keep improving on the mental aspect of his game to become a successful international cricketer. He hoped that these few months of enforced break would have allowed him to get rejuvenated mentally as well as physically.

Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan put forth their views on the impact the break would have had on Rishabh Pant in the latest edition of the Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.

On being asked if the time away from scrutiny would have helped Rishabh Pant, Gambhir acknowledged that the break would have freshened him up, while adding that the young wicket-keeper's ability to handle criticism might define the success he gets as an international cricketer.

"I think skill-wise you need to keep improving but mentally you have got to get stronger as well when you have to play international cricket and if you want to become a very successful international cricketer as well."

"You can hit as many balls as you can and as long as you want to, but you have to be mentally strong to face those criticisms. Because criticism will always be there and how you want to approach the game going forward, 4-5 months of break obviously freshens you up mentally and physically as well but going forward lets see how he copes up with the criticism as well."

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Irfan Pathan on the impact of the break on Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has lost his place in the Indian limited-overs team to KL Rahul

Irfan Pathan observed that the break would do a lot of good to many cricketers, and that it would prolong the careers of those who are nearing the end of their cricketing journey.

"Lot of people will benefit from this break. I feel there will be lot of cricketers whose career was at stake but would get revived now because they would have recovered mentally as well as physically, especially players who are 35-36 years of age their careers might get extended for a couple of years."

Talking specifically about Rishabh Pant, he mentioned that being away from the media's glare would have benefited him a lot.

"If you talk of Rishabh Pant, he is a young guy, very talented, there was a lot of focus on him. So the focus getting removed from him, it will do a world of good to Rishabh Pant and many other cricketers."

The former Indian all-rounder added that even though Rishabh Pant is under pressure, with KL Rahul having taken the wicket-keeper's spot in the Indian limited-overs lineup, it would only help in getting the best out of the Delhi Capitals' wicket-keeper-batsman.

"I have no doubt that even though all the pressure is coming on him, he had to miss out some matches in T20 cricket with KL Rahul going out and doing what he did as a wicketkeeper as well and that is going to put pressure, but I think that will do a world of good to Rishabh Pant."

Irfan Pathan opined that Rishabh Pant enjoys the full backing of Virat Kohli, while observing that a talented player can make huge strides once he is cold-shouldered due to a bad phase.

"Sometimes you are getting too much backing which Virat Kohli is backing him in public eye as well, but I think when you get a little bit of kick on your back, that's when if you have talent you are going to go big.

'He worked very hard': Virat Kohli defends Rishabh Pant's selection over Wriddhiman Saha for Test series...#NZvIND #INDvNZ #Cricket #TeamIndia #ViratKohli #RishabhPant #WriddhimanSaha https://t.co/uxJYe0fAM4

— DNA (@dna) March 2, 2020

Irfan Pathan asserted that Rishabh Pant's career would take an upswing going forward.

"Coming back after this pandemic, his cricket is going to go upward."

'Great talent getting wasted': Kirti Azad backs Rishabh Pant to have a successful career https://t.co/1OUmFBiY4M

— Republic (@republic) July 20, 2020

Rishabh Pant, who was once touted as the heir apparent to MS Dhoni, has lost favour in the Indian limited-overs setup. His lack of consistency and KL Rahul's stupendous form has left him warming the benches.

Rishabh Pant has scored 374 runs in the 16 ODI matches he has played, at a below-par average of 26.71. Even in T20I cricket, he has not covered himself in glory, having scored 410 runs in 28 matches at an unimpressive average of 20.50.