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Published 14:10 IST, December 7th 2019

Sourav Ganguly counters Kohli, wants Pant to go through 'Dhoni' chants for this reason

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said that Rishabh Pant must get used to performing under pressure and bring out the best in him during a recent media event

Reported by: Karthik Nair
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BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that it is high time that young Rishabh Pant gets used to pressure and bring out the best in him. Pant who had an outstanding IPL last season has failed to make his bat do the talking since World Cup 2019. 

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Ganguly on what he would have let Pant go through?

During a recent media event, Sourav Ganguly said that had he been Virat Kohli, then he would have let Rishabh Pant go through 'Dhoni' chants, let him hear it so that the youngster would find ways to succeed. At the same time, Dada had also made a huge statement that MS Dhoni is a once-in-a-generation cricketer and when he had started, he was not  MS Dhoni. Ganguly then added that it took him 15 years to be MS Dhoni and that it would take close to 15 years for Rishabh Pant to be even close to what MS Dhoni is today. The former Indian skipper had also shown faith in Pant when he said that the southpaw will be one of the greats for India in the years to come.

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'We believe in Pant's ability'

While addressing the media on Thursday, Virat Kohli said, "Look I mentioned this about Saha as well when I was asked in Kolkata when asked how do I see him playing shorter formats and I said, in IPL, you had 8 teams and you have a lot more players, who can play in several positions and you have to figure out who are the best guys to the job in a particular position. We certainly believe in Rishabh's ability. I think when you say it is a player's responsibility to work hard and perform, I agree but I think it is a collective responsibility of everyone around as well to give that player the space to do so as well."

READ: Virat Kohli loves Amitabh Bachchan's 'AAA' reference, calls him an 'inspiration'

'Cannot shout Dhoni's name, when Pant misses'

Furthermore, Kohli added, "If he (Pant) misses a chance or something, people cannot shout Dhoni's name, it is not respectful if I have to put it that way because no player would like that to happen. Playing in your own country you should get support rather than always thinking about what mistake is this guy going to make. No one wants to be in that position. As Rohit rightly pointed out as well, he needs to be left alone. You know he is a match-winner, and once he comes good, you will see a different version of him which we have seen in IPL already because he is free and relaxed there. He feels that there is a lot more respect when it comes to his abilities and what he can achieve for the team. We cannot be isolated to an extent that he feels we are against him."

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13:21 IST, December 7th 2019