Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly urgred wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to get used to the chants of “Dhoni” from the Indian public and figure his own mechanism to deal with the pressure of being an India cricketer.
The 22-year-old has been under intense scrutiny for his underwhelming performances in white-ball cricket but has got the firm backing of both skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma.
Kohli on Thursday said Pant can’t be isolated to such an extent that he starts feeling nervous on the field and found it “disrespectful” that fans chanted Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s name he made mistakes during a recent home series.
“It’s good for him [Pant]. He should get used to it. Let him hear it and find a way to succeed. He will be under pressure and let him go through it and figure out on his own,” Ganguly said during the India Today Conclave in Kolkata on Friday.
Ganguly also refused to divulge the BCCI’s plans with regards to Dhoni’s much-speculated future. He said it will take 15 years of consistency for Rishabh Pant to be the next Dhoni.
“You don’t get MS Dhoni everyday. It will take Pant 15 years to achieve what MS has achieved,” he said. The BCCI can’t be thankful enough to MS for what he has done for Indian cricket. We will leave it at that. We are speaking to Virat, the selectors, that’s what it is. We will address [Dhoni’s future] as and when it comes,” he said.
Dhoni has been on a sabbatical since India’s semi-final exit from the ODI World Cup in July.