Rishabh Pant’s all-format status may have suffered a dent last week when he was not named in India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against England.
Initially understood to have been rested after a gruelling 10-Test course across four months, Pant’s availability for a Ranji Trophy fixture for Delhi has now suggested otherwise.
Within 43 Test appearances, Pant’s legacy as India’s most prolific wicketkeeper-bat has already entered an indisputable territory. The mighty biffs, the reverse ramps, the sweeps: conventional, reverse and the one-hander, heaves and whatnot! Coupled with an immensely sturdy vertical bat protecting his pads and wicket, Pant’s unusual shot-making range has stamped an X-factor status in the longest format.
In this same timeline, his white-ball self has curiously driven to a strange crossroads. It is uncertain if Pant will remain the first-choice wicket-keeper for the ODIs and the Champions Trophy with KL Rahul in contention. Pant’s 50-over record is middling at best after 31 matches – 871 runs at 33.5. Despite his long lay-off from regular 50-over cricket, Pant was named the second keeper in the Champions Trophy squad unveiled on Saturday, pipping the likes of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan.
Samson has no 50-over exploits after his last outing for India in December 2023. He belted a hundred in South Africa before Pant returned to the radar in mid-2024. Kishan, who filled in for Pant in the 2023 ODI World Cup, has endured a slump in the ongoing domestic season.
Pant’s left-handedness continues to be a point of discussion and difference, but runs haven’t flown off his blade as smoothly as in Tests, leaving India and himself with a unique conundrum.