New Delhi: Former England captain Kevin Pietersen believes that under-fire Rishabh Pant needs to be given time to mature as there are still years to go before he can realise his full potential.
The 22-year-old is enduring a woeful run of form and has struggled to make an impact both with the bat and behind the stumps. Pant also copped criticism for bad DRS calls.
“He is young and he has that energy and enthusiasm, he plays in the IPL, and he plays for India and is just living his dream. There will be a lot of critics around him, he’s only 21 (22),” Pietersen said on Star Sports. He added that former players and experts criticise Pant because they want him to learn from his mistakes. “I observed him very closely during the IPL and he kept making the same mistake and when you do that continuously then pundits, experts and people who have played the game want to criticise you because you should be learning from your mistakes. But I never realised he’s 21, I thought he was 24 or 25, because by that age you have matured in your game and at the age of 27-30 is when you are playing your best sport.”
