Too early to judge Pant on DRS, says Rohit Sharma
India endured tough luck as they suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in the opening T20I in Delhi on Sunday. However, what stood out in the defeat was wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant's inability to make the right calls with respect to the Decision Review System (DRS). Pant took a couple of wrong calls, but skipper Rohit Sharma believes it is too early to judge him.
Pant's wrong DRS call gives Rahim a lifeline
It happened in the 10th over, when Yuzvendra Chahal was bowling to star batsman Mushfiqur Rahim. The third ball saw an LBW appeal by Chahal being turned down. Chahal wanted to go for DRS but Pant was not convinced. The skipper Rohit went with Pant as replays confirmed Rahim was out. Ironically, the same over saw Pant going for DRS, only to lose it.
Rishabh is young and will need time to understand: Rohit
"Of course, Rishabh is young and he will need time to understand. It's too soon to judge whether he can make those decisions. Plus, the bowlers as well. It's a combination when the captain's not in the right position to make that decision," said Rohit.
Rohit defends his decision to take DRS call
Speaking further on the same, Rohit defended his call to take the DRS following Pant's insistence, since Rohit feels that DRS calls need to be made as per the bowler and the wicket-keeper's understanding. "When you are not in the right position, you have to trust your bowler and the wicket-keeper. Based on that, you have to make that decision," he added post match.
Rohit expects youngsters to learn from their mistakes
"They still need to understand when defending smaller targets, they need to bowl according to the plan. They will learn by playing these games. They have the talent and ability to bounce back but only time will tell if they can do that," Rohit opined.
It was right to let Khaleel bowl penultimate over: Rohit
One of the most talked moments was Rohit's decision to let pacer Khaleel Ahmed bowl the penultimate over, which went for 18 runs. However, Rohit defended it, "I did not want our spinners to bowl at the back-end...Two right-handers, I will take that chance anytime with Chahal taking the ball away from them. So that was the idea behind keeping Khaleel for the back-end"
Rohit backs the young bowling unit
"These are the guys, who did not play for a while in this format. These are bowlers we have been identified that they are the ones who can do well in this format. They have done reasonably well," said Rohit about the young bowling unit.
