Rishabh Pant does a Rishabh Pant. Enough!
The 21-year-old "T20 Specialist" has managed to score just 149 runs out of 9 games he has played this year. 4 runs was last score coming from pant's bat during India Vs south Africa's 2nd T20 match in Mohali where a gimme ball was bowled by fortuin short of a length on leg stump, and Pant got down to smack it into the leg side. He could have almost hit it anywhere, but picks out the man unerringly.
Rishabh pant is appearing to be a serious trouble for Team India. He has scored 4, 40*, 28, 3, 1, 0, 4, 65* and 4. More than a string of low scores the major problem for Pant is the manner of his dismissal. In run a ball situation he often got out by playing what some would call a rash shot.
Just before the series against South Africa, skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri in an interview with star sports stated that Pant will be "rapped on the knuckles" if he keeps on playing rash shots like the one he did against West Indies recently, he further added that he is letting the team down. In a situation where you have the captain at the other end, a target to chase, the need of the hour is sensible cricket,". Meanwhile, Kohli added that Pant could hit boundaries in tough conditions compared to him, who loves to take single or double and added that "everyone has their own game but reading the situation and decision-making is an expectation from everyone in the team, not just Rishabh".
While Vikram Rathor, India's new batting coach has also spoken about how explosive Pant is, but at the same time insisted that he must play fearless cricket rather than careless cricket.
With T20 world cup around the corner, Team India needs to try new people and see who stands up under pressure. There are other young wicket-keeper batsmen like Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan waiting in the wings. Sanju Samson who has recently scored 91 runs in just 48 for India A against South Africa A, averages around 27.48 in T20's, on the other hand, Ishan Kishan averages 25.43. Indian selectors can also consider KL Rahul who was the second-highest run-scorer after David Warner in IPL 2019. In ICC world cup 2019, he showed that he can bat at no.4.
Selectors have provided Rishabh Pant with lots of opportunities but he failed to capitalise those opportunities.
Wicket-keeping was never the strong point for Pant and because of this, he could also lose his spot for the upcoming Test series against South Africa as Saha is technically far better keeper than Pant.
After Mohali innings, netizens cried for Dhoni's return to the Indian team. Dean Jones in an interview said that "I see him(M.S Dhoni) playing in the next T20 World Cup (in Australia next year). He's calm, composed and India still needs his finishing touch,".
In a show for Cricbuzz, Ajay Jadeja stated that too much pressure has been given to Pant.
He didn't come into the Indian team in just one day. He started playing India Under-19, scored hundreds, double hundreds and triple hundreds in the Ranji Trophy, and then did exceptionally well For Delhi franchise in IPL. When a good batsman goes through a rough patch, it's just his form that he has lost. In bad form, your technique doesn't become bad, but you play the 'situation' and not the ball,". Former India Pacer Zaheer Khan made a good point that sums up the Pant debate perfectly. "There's no problem if Pant is making mistakes. What will be crucial is how are you viewing it and handling him in the future".
