England vs India: Kohli backs Pant to come good with the bat, calls Headingley defeat an aberration

India skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday backed wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, saying the team management will give him all the space he needs in the remainder of the five-Test series against England.

The 23-year-old Pant, who has played in all the three Tests so far in the ongoing England series, hasn’t been able to get going with the bat, managing 25 at Nottingham, 37 and 22 at Lord’s, and 2 and 1 at Leeds for a total of only 87 runs.

“Well again, as I said, with one loss I cannot assess that or I cannot start analysing that as a captain. Definitely the management is not going to start analysing that because we are not failing as a team.

“Consistently we are not losing, this is what I mean, when I say that, we failed this game as a team definitely and we take responsibility for that,” Kohli said at the virtual post-match press conference when asked whether Pant’s lack of runs was creating problems for the lower middle-order.

Also read:

Ind vs Eng, third Test, day 4 as it happened: Robinson bowls England to a fabulous win

Watch: “When you’re out for under 80 in first innings… you’re always up against it,” says Kohli

Tough to digest: Reactions to India’s collapse and big defeat…

Read more