Team India captain Virat Kohli has revealed a piece of advice he
received from his predecessor MS Dhoni while talking about wicket-keeper
Rishabh Pant. “There has to be a gap of seven to eight months between one
mistake and another. Only then you have a long run in international cricket,”
Dhoni told Kohli when he was playing for India.

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“MS Dhoni gave me an excellent piece of advice at the
start of my career… ‘There has to be a gap of seven to eight months between one
mistake and another. Only then will you have a long run in international
cricket’. That got internalised in my system, that I will not repeat my
mistakes. And it can happen only when you are reflecting upon your mistakes. I
know Rishabh does this and he will keep improving. He will make sure that he
will stand up to be counted in important situations,” Kohli said at the
pre-match press conference on Monday.

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Kohli’s comments came after Pant threw away his wicket
at a crucial juncture of the Johannesburg Test in India’s second innings that
eventually led to India’s seven-wicket defeat in the second Test. Pant’s
dismissal made legendry Sunil Gavaskar livid, who was then in the commentary
box, but Rahul Dravid tried to play down the matter in the post-match press
conference.

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Pant, at 24, is a young batter in the Indian team.
Despite his lack of experience, he played match-winning knocks in
Australia and England in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series, respectively. He is currently in the fourth
year of his career in international cricket. The problem with Pant is that he
got dismissed playing similar shots too many times. After the second Test, Pant
was rebuked by the team management for his shot selection that cost
India heavily.

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“We have had conversations with Rishabh during
practice. When a batsman gets out playing a shot, the batsman himself knows if
he played the right shot or not as regards to the situation. As long as an
individual is accepting the responsibility, that leads to progress.

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We all have
made mistakes in our careers. But it’s important to understand the mindset in
that particular moment; what was your thought process and what mistake you
made. As long as you are accepting your mistakes, learning from them and making
sure you aren’t repeating them, you will improve,” Kohli said.