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Danish Kaneria, the former Pakistan spinner has targeted Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant over his fitness issues. While Danish Kaneria said that India’s all-format skipper batter Rohit Sharma isn’t too fit either, it’s more important for Rishabh Pant to be in better shape as he is a wicket-keeper batter.

After a string of unimpressive performances, Rishabh Pant has become the target of critics once again. The attacking wicket-keeper batter didn’t have the best of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 campaign and performed below-par in the recently concluded T20I series between India and South Africa too. One of the reasons behind his underwhelming show, according to former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria, is his weight.

Danish Kaneria: Rishabh Pant’s Fitness Isn’t Upto The Mark And Unlike Batter Rohit Sharma, He Has To Improve His Fitness Being A Keeper

It isn’t the first time that keeper Rishabh Pant’s fitness has come into question. While a new fitness regime was brought into place when ex-Indian skipper Virat Kohli first took over India’s captaincy, Danish Kaneria feels Rishabh Pant is lagging behind many others in this area.

“Rishabh Pant’s fitness is not up to the mark and is very low. I would say it’s rather mediocre. There was a massive change in terms of the team’s fitness standards when Kohli took over the captaincy. But Pant is lagging behind when compared to others,” Kaneria said on his official YouTube channel.

Danish Kaneria didn’t shy away from highlighting Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s fitness issues too. But, since Rohit Sharma is a pure batter, Danish Kaneria gave him a pass. For Rishabh Pant, however, the tainted spinner feels fitness is extremely important.

“Although Rohit Sharma too isn’t very fit, he is a batter, and it is fine for him. But Pant has to improve his fitness as he is a wicketkeeper. Even at this young age, we’ve seen how he hasn’t been able to crouch properly while keeping in recent games.

“This is due to his weight issues. It has an effect on his flexibility too. He plays with an approach of hitting the bowlers right from the onset. Mental toughness and maturity will also only come with fitness,” he explained.

The Team India keeper-batter has scored 741 runs in 48 T20I matches at an average of 23.15 and a strike rate of 123.91. Rishabh Pant has managed just 58 runs in the series against South Africa at a mediocre average of 14.5 and an equally poor strike rate of 105.45. Rishabh Pant has struggled with the bat in the T20I series against South Africa, having registered scores of 29, 5, 6, 17, and 1*.

Danish Kaneria: Rishabh Pant Has To Fight For His Place With The Arrival Of Dinesh Karthik

In comparison to Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik remains incredibly fit even at the age of 37. With Dinesh Karthik making a strong comeback into the Indian team, Danish Kaneria feels Rishabh Pant will have a tough fight for the spot behind the stumps in T20Is.

“When you see Dinesh Karthik, he is super fit even at this age. We’ve seen that in his batting as well as wicketkeeping. Pant may have scored 70-odd in the warmup game, but he hasn’t been consistent and his graph is going down. He will have to fight for his place in the team as there are other options like Dinesh Karthik, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson,” he further said.

With as many as four wicketkeeper-batters in contention in Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Dinesh Karthik, it will be interesting to see how many get the nod. KL Rahul who was injured just before the ongoing South Africa series is another option for the keeper’s slot and will certainly make the 2022 T20I World Cup squad if fit.