'You have to be mentally strong': Gautam Gambhir on how Pant can handle criticisms

Gautam Gambhir has said that Rishabh Pant should be mentally tough to handle criticism. The youngster was seen as a successor to the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni after he had been on a sabbatical from the game post World Cup 2019. Nonetheless, a string of poor performances with both the bat as well as the gloves meant that he ended up inviting criticisms from the fans as well as a handful of experts. 

Rishabh was sidelined from the team after he suffered a concussion during the home ODI series against Australia earlier this year as a result of which KL Rahul was made a makeshift wicket-keeper and continued to don the gloves in the away limited-overs series against New Zealand that followed.  Even though the 22-year-old was roped in for the two-match Test series for the same tour, he could not do anything exceptional after making a comeback.

'You have to be mentally strong': Gautam Gambhir

“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 let's see how he copes up with the criticism as well,” said Gambhir while interacting on the Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

“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,” the 2011 World Cup winner added.

Rishabh Pant in IPL 2020 & Team India's next assignments

The southpaw was retained by Delhi Capitals for the 13th edition of the cash-rich event that will be played in the UAE from September 19 to November 8. The complete fixtures of the tournament will be announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) next week. The Capitals had finished third last season after losing to the eventual runners-up CSK in Qualifier 2. At the same time, a new look Delhi franchise (formerly known as Delhi Daredevils till the 2018 edition) had also made it to the playoffs for the first time after seven years. 

Meanwhile, Team India's next two away limited-overs bilateral series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe respectively have been called off due to coronavirus fear. However, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had confirmed earlier this month that India's tour of Australia for a four-match Test series will take place as per the originally scheduled Future Tours Programme (FTP). The series gets underway on December 3.

(Image Courtesy: AP)

READ: 'Great Talent Getting Wasted': Kirti Azad Backs Rishabh Pant To Have A Successful Career