Rishabh Pant (PTI Photo/Sailendra Bhojak) New Delhi: The watchword of the current Indian team management has been ‘flexibility’. Now it remains to be seen whether the selectors will continue to experiment or opt for continuity. At the center of this debate is Rishabh Pant. By standard team-building logic, Pant’s place in the 15-man squad should not be in doubt. For the last 18 months, he has warmed the bench as backup wicketkeeper to KL Rahul. Since returning from the car accident, he has played only one ODI — a rank tourer in Sri Lanka in August 2024. Before the accident, Pant averaged over 41 with a strike rate close to 110 when batting at No. 4. A lot has changed since then. Gautam Gambhir consolidated his influence as head coach. Rohit Sharma was replaced by Shubman Gill as captain. “Flexibility” and an aversion to superstar culture became the core principles of selection.
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Three ODIs against New Zealand may not seem significant. But India will play only about 20 ODIs before the 2027 World Cup. “The team management and the selection committee have done a good job in starting the transition process. But constant chopping and changing does not help stability. If Pant was your No. 2 keeper and he goes out without playing, you question your own selection process. There has to be consistency in selection, otherwise it does not send a good signal to the players coming through the ranks,” former national coach Devang Gandhi told TOI. It is clear that the selectors wanted to rotate Pant and Rahul as wicketkeepers in the six home ODIs this season. However, the continued reluctance to play Pant suggests a lack of confidence in his abilities. Similar situations played out in Test cricket with Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy when the management and the captain seemed to be out of sync. “My only fear is a repeat of 2019 when you didn’t back up the middle order. Pant can still serve another seven to eight years. If they feel they can maximize his potential, they need to start working with him. He’s been part of the system since 2018. If not, they need to identify a definitive second keeper – and not keep changing without giving players the full number of former ODIs.” said goalkeeper and broadcaster Deep Dasgupta. Pant did not set the stage on fire at the Vijay Hazare Trophy on sticky pitches in Bengaluru. “I’m not going to judge him by runs. He hasn’t played the 50-over format for almost three-and-a-half years. He was finding his feet in ODIs before the accident. It’s about how much you want to back him,” Dasgupta added.
