Shastri Warns Pant: ‘If he repeats mistakes, there will be a rap on the knuckles’

"There will be a rap on the knuckles there - talent or no talent - because you are letting the team down, forget letting yourself down", Shastri commented on Pant's carefree approach towards batting

India coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli have send down a very stern message to young wicket-keeping sensation Rishabh Pant over his casual approach to batting as the team gears up for the T20 World Cup in 2020 in Australia. Pant who leapfrogged into the international scene after his IPL heroics, has often been criticized for lack of temperament and application and throwing his wicket away under pressure situations. For example, during the recent 3rd ODI against West Indies in Port-of-Spain, Pant skipped down the track against bowler Fabian Allen off his 1st ball with India needing 164 runs to win off 22.3 overs, ending up losing his wicket. Referring to the same incident, Shastri said in an interview to Star Sports: "When you see a shot like the one in Trinidad, off the first ball, [it's disappointing]. He tries to repeat it a couple of times and gets out, he will be told." "There will be a rap on the knuckles there - talent or no talent - because you are letting the team down, forget letting yourself down. You are letting the team down in a situation where you have the captain at the other end. You have a target to chase where the need of the hour is some sensible cricket," added the coach. Shastri, though expressed his confidence in Pant and reiterated that he will learn to correct his shot-selection sooner rather than later and once it happens, 'he could be unstoppable'.