Aakash Chopra, former opener turned commentator believes that Rishabh Pant has himself to blame for his exclusion from white-ball squads for an Australian tour. Although he was considered an X factor and next big thing in Indian cricket, he failed to grab limited opportunities performing poorly and inconsistently with the bat which led to his snub especially in ODIs and T20Is.
Since the likes of all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are doing a fantastic job for India with the bat coming down the order recently, Aakash Chopra feels that Rishabh Pant’s presence would have added and boosted India’s batting might.
Rishabh Pant Hasn’t Made Full Use Of Chances And Has Himself To Blame: Aakash Chopra.
Rishabh Pant scored 350 runs in 4 tests averaging 58.33 against Australia when India won their maiden test series 2-1 in Australia last time they toured Down Under. But he performed poorly averaging less than 20 against West Indies and New Zealand away from home.
“Just think about it, if Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja play at No.5, 6, and 7 for India, then suddenly you feel ‘wow, what a team!’. But did Rishabh did enough for himself? This is one question that he will have to ask himself,” Aakash Chopra told Cricbuzz.
However, he stressed the fact that the 23-year-old wicket-keeper should blame himself for not featuring for the Men in Blue in white-ball limited-overs cricket because he had often gifted his wicket away in pressured crunch situations when India wanted him to bat through the innings and finish off games.
“Rishabh Pant needed to understand this whenever he had the opportunity, he had to understand that the way he was getting out and whether he was able to finish the match or not. He has not made full use of the chances that he got and he only has himself to blame at this point in time,” he further added.
Rishabh Pant represented India in 13 Tests, 15 ODIs and 28 T20Is so far but his average is below 30 in limited-overs, and he has only 2 T20I and a solitary ODI fifty. In tests, he has a better average with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties, but his form hasn’t been up to the mark recently.
Aakash Chopra: Wriddhiman Saha Keeping For India A Means Rishabh Pant May Even Lose Test Spot
Aakash Chopra commented that Rishabh Pant was once looked upon as one of the first choice wicket-keepers across all three formats-ODI, Test and T20I and was even added to 2019 World Cup squad as a replacement for injured Shikhar Dhawan.
“Wriddhiman Saha has been keeping for India A in the practice game against Australia A. It means that Rishabh Pant has even lost his spot in Test cricket. At one point in time, he was India’s first-choice wicketkeeper across all three formats. He was also sent to the 2019 World Cup as a replacement,” Aakash Chopra asserted.
India A are playing against Australia A at Sydney where Wriddhiman Saha has been preferred over Rishabh Pant in playing XI which means that Rishabh Pant may have lost a place even in the Test team.
“If things have turned out to be this bad for him, he is still young and will get chances to bounce back. But he will have to be a bit harsh on himself that he did not make the most of his chances,” Aakash Chopra further added.
Rishabh Pant must ensure that every chance in playing XI should be counted and is important for him to cement a permanent spot in white-ball and test squad with likes of KL Rahul, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan’s stellar performances giving him a hard time.