'He has failed to deliver in white-ball cricket' - Virat Kohli's coach slams Indian cricketer for his recent performances

Rajkumar Sharma (Source: Twitter)

India failed to turn up in the ODI series against New Zealand after clinching the T20 series 1-0. They were beaten in the first ODI comprehensively by the Black Caps on the back of Tom Latham scoring 145 off 104 balls, and Kane Willamson scoring 94 off 98 balls. On two other occasions, they were saved by the rain.

After they lost the ODIs 1-0, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma came down heavily on Rishabh Pant for his non-performance in white-ball cricket. He just scored 25 runs in the three ODIs against the Kiwis, at an average of 12.50 and at a strike rate of 64.10. As it seems, he is yet to cut the mustard in limited-overs cricket.

Rishabh Pant got many chances: Rajkumar Sharma

“Rishabh Pant's on-field performances have not been satisfactory at all," Rajkumar was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times. "It is very unfortunate, as he has been given a long rope by the team management. We all know how Virat Kohli showed great faith in Pant during his captaincy. And even after that, he kept on getting many chances. While he has done quite well in red-ball cricket, he has failed to deliver in white-ball cricket.”

 "There is no harm in going back and playing domestic cricket when you are not in form. It is always better to work on your basics if you can see that you are struggling in terms of stroke-making. He should play domestic cricket and then make a comeback to the national side," Rajkumar added. Pant has also not been in good form in the T20s as well as he scored 17 runs in two innings.

The fans have been critical of Pant’s form and his inability to score. They have also been going after the Indian management for keeping Sanju Samson on the bench and not playing him on a consistent basis as they believe that he can do a better job than Pant with the bat and even slot in as a keeper if required.