If there was one player who was touted to take 2017 by storm for the Indian team, it was Rishabh Pant. Still only 19 years of age, he showed his class in domestic cricket and was considered a good bet to make himself a regular in the Indian team this year.
Pant was excellent in the IPL, smashing huge sixes to remind everyone of his class and he was generally in a good space to make it to the team.
Chance in the West Indies tour:
Pant got his chance in the West Indies tour, playing in the sole T20I. Though it looked like he was out of place due to a long absence from international cricket, he managed to hit a few runs. However, it must be noted that a player like Pant requires some time in the middle for a few games before he can start showing his class.
Pant is also a good keeper who can don the gloves once Dhoni calls it a day and if there ever was a time to groom the player, it was this year.
Omitted again:
It seems like Pant just isn’t able to catch a break as he was omitted again in the series against Sri Lanka which means he will have to start from scratch once again.
The advantage that Rishabh Pant has is that he is still young and has enough time to recover from this. He still has so much raw potential that needs to be groomed and maybe the Indian team missed a trick by not giving him a chance in this series. He is a talent in which Indian cricket needs to invest because many cricket pundits across the world believe he can go on to become Indian cricket’s next superstar.
Rishabh Pant has all the attributes – power, temperament and agility to name a few. If he plays more international cricket, he will only be able to hone those skills and perform at the highest level but if the selectors keep giving him intermittent chances, it is only going to get harder for him.
In the ODI and T20I squad against Sri Lanka, Rishabh Pant was dropped to accommodate KL Rahul, who is another rising star of Indian cricket. But, this decision proves that Pant is not a priority for BCCI.
The BCCI must keep Rishabh Pant in and around India’s squad because it is very important for him travel with the team get used to different playing conditions across the world as early as he can in his career.
By Rohit Nair
