Gautam Gambhir sends ‘respect situation’ warning to Rishabh Pant ahead of Afghanistan Test after vice-captain snubs

Rishabh Pant, Gautam Gambhir NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Friday stressed that Rishabh Pant does not need to change his natural batting style but must play according to the demands of the match situation, echoing comments made by assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate a day earlier.Pant was dropped as India’s Test vice-captain when the BCCI announced the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan last month. Ahead of the match, which starts in New Chandigarh on Saturday, Gambhir said he continues to back the batsmen at the wicket but expects to be better at judging situations.“We don’t want Rishabh Pant to change, but international cricket requires players to respect the match situation,” Gambhir said at the pre-match press conference.His remarks came a day after Ten Doeschate spoke about Pant’s approach to batting and leadership.“With Rishabh’s brilliance, we don’t want to take away all the things he does, but at times if he can adjust his game to play (match) situations a bit more, I think that’s something you’ll see him work on.”“I don’t think he needs a formal title to be a leader in an elite set-up like this and I think Rishabh understands that,” Ten Doeschate said of the decision to remove Pant as vice-captain.READ ALSO: For Rishabh Pant, the next starting point is the 50th TestPant, 28, will play his 50th Test when India take on Afghanistan. In 49 Tests, he scored 3,476 runs at an average of 42.91 and a strike rate of 74.24, including eight centuries and 18 half-centuries.The breakthrough match comes after a difficult period for Pant. He endured a poor IPL 2026 season as a batsman and captain of Lucknow Super Giants and also lost the Test vice-captaincy to KL Rahul.During the Test series against South Africa and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Pant’s attacking approach came under scrutiny at times.The Afghanistan Test now offers him an opportunity to return to red-ball cricket and make an impact with the bat as India begin their next Test assignment.

Should BCCI have removed Rishabh Pant as vice-captain?