The time has come for Rishabh Pant to "unleash" his rich potential in all three formats, said India captain Virat Kohli ahead of the first T20 international against the West Indies here on Saturday.
With little clarity over the eventual fate of veteran M S Dhoni, Pant has now turned into the favored decision in each of the three formats and that was brought up by boss selector MSK Prasad after the determination board picked the squads for the West Indies visit.
"It's a great opportunity for someone like Rishabh Pant to really play a lot of international cricket, show his credentials, really unleash his potential at this stage," Kohli said here on Friday.
"We know how much ability he has and we all want him to become a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team. MS Dhoni's experience is always going to be a very crucial factor but having said that some of these younger guys have a great opportunity ahead of them and they should just look forward to it."
Kohli has just said the tour is a good opportunity for fringe players like Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey to assert some authority for a spot in India's fragile middle-order in ODIs.
The T20 here on Saturday will be India's first trip since the disastrous misfortune to New Zealand in the World Cup semi-finals a month ago. The captain is yet to get over the misfortune.
"The first few days after we exited the World Cup were quite difficult. Till the time the tournament got over, every time we woke up it was the worst feeling in the morning. Then through the day, you do things and sort of getting on with your life. We are professionals. We move ahead. Every team has to move on."
"So we are quite okay with what happened in the World Cup. Yesterday the fielding session and the little bit of time we spent on the field was really good. Everyone was excited, looking forward to just playing, just being on the field again. I think that's the best thing you can do as a team, just get on the park as soon as possible."
The Indian group couldn't prepare on top of things because of downpour however having played here three years back, it has a thought of the conditions.
"I think the covers look the same," quipped Kohli.
"We haven't seen the pitch, we haven't seen anything apart from the covers on the pitch. When we play tomorrow, we can assess how the pitch has come along. Even last time we played, it was pretty good, high-scoring, and we all had a lot of fun playing here, and this time is going to be no different."
Kohli is in support of having increasingly worldwide games in the United States.
"For the time being, I believe it's tied in with making that buzz and simply getting individuals in to watch the games. The more we come here and play, clearly the game will get increasingly more buzz around it, individuals are going to discuss it."
"You see 15,000-20,000 individuals heading off to a spot to watch something, clearly it ought to be significant. Ideally, in years to come, individuals will have more intrigue. Neighborhood individuals in America too, not simply the Asian people group or the West Indian people group however the entire network all in all will have more enthusiasm for the game."
He feels the T20 series is the perfect one to advance the game comprehensively.
"I think T20 cricket is something that can be understood and accepted in the American culture because of the length of the game and it's quite entertaining as well. So I think for the sport to become global in many ways, a lot of interest here will go a long way in achieving that for the sport," he included.
