‘He’ll improve even more’: R Ashwin backs Rishabh Pant amid criticism

Ravichandran Ashwin has urged the fans and India’s cricket community as a whole to just pause and reflect.

Reflect on how they deal with accusations of preparing tailor-made pitches or how, instead of celebrating a talent like Rishabh Pant, efforts are made to find shortcomings in his game.

Think again, is what Ashwin is telling the “community” as a whole.

Just like a man in complete control of his craft, his carefully chosen words not only add a fresh perspective. But also invoke a healthy academic debate.

R Ashwin:

“Look, it is us who are getting bothered by all this,” Ashwin said when asked if it’s high time that England and Australian teams acknowledge their lack of skills in countering quality spin bowling on tracks offering turn.

“I mean everybody is entitled an opinion, whoever is giving their opinion are totally well within their rights to give their own opinion. I think, it is us who are reading into it and seeing if it is working or not.”

“…so we as a cricketing fraternity or as a country. Dealing with such sort of accusations, need to get a little better. We must just hold pride in saying how we are playing good cricket,” said the man, who is six short of 400 Test wickets.

Ashwin said that even the Indian team might have an opinion about pitches that it is offered but neither the players nor the country’s former stalwarts raise questions about seaming tracks in overseas condition.

Rishabh Pant:

“They play for the country and at times, it feels you know that we are searching as to what’s wrong with them. Rishabh Pant was always going to be a good cricketer and was always going to improve.

“Only if we back them in such a way that we want them to improve.They will improve faster,” Ashwin said.

It’s not Pant who needs to change, but all those who judge him.

“…if we are going to find loopholes and faults, the cricketers are going to take that much longer. I think it’s more of a mindset issue for us and we should embrace how good a cricketer he is.

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“We tend to see a lot of negatives. If we see a lot more positives, we will see a lot more champion cricketers.”

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