Rishabh Pant has been the talk of the town on the internet in the past weeks as he led Team India against South Africa in the recently concluded five-match T20I series, in the absence of KL Rahul. The latter was due to lead India but was ruled out due to a groin injury, hence Pant was handed the reins.
However, the Southpaw was heavily criticised for scoring just 58 runs across five games, and his captaincy credentials were also questioned as India lost the first two games of the series but staged a stunning comeback in the next fixtures to pull themselves level at 2-2.
After winning two games and losing two games, Pant had a mixed start to his captaincy reign, but if it were up to former cricketer Madan Lal, he wouldn’t have allowed the Delhi batsman to lead Team India.
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The veteran feels that captaincy came too early for the 25-year-old, and he still needs to show more maturity, before captaining India again.
Speaking to Sports Tak, Lal said, “I would have stopped him from becoming captain. Wouldn’t have allowed it. Because such a player needs to be given this responsibility later. Becoming an India captain is a big deal. He is a youngster. He isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The longer he plays, he will gain more maturity.”
Since Pant struggled with the bat in all the five games against South Africa, Madan Lal feels that the youngster should look to play a bit more maturely, and that would allow him to take his game to the next level.
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“Over the next two years, if he can take his game to the next level, then he can be a good captain, can deal with things maturely. This is a player of a different nature. MS Dhoni was a quiet and cool captain, which suited him as captain. Virat Kohli is a brilliant batter. I’m not saying Pant shouldn’t be swinging his bat but if he can play with a little more maturity, it would be great,” he added.
Pant is currently in the UK, where he is gearing up to face off against England in the rescheduled fifth Test match from last year, which will be played at Edgbaston from July 1-5.
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