A player who has been backed a lot by Team India and suddenly he fails to deliver and the talks of him getting drops takes the hype, this is not new nowadays in the Indian cricket right? Rishabh Pant, who has been handed over the captaincy in the absence of big players during the South Africa series has now come under the radar of the so called “outside noise”. Pant saw a bit dip in his form in the IPL and also post lucrative league.
The wicket-keeper batter failed to score big in the recently concluded South Africa series as well. He managed to score only 58 runs in four innings at an average of 14.5 and strike rate of 105.45, falling to wide outside the off-stump deliveries on all four occasions.
With concerns over his place in the T20I setup in a year when Men’s T20 World Cup will be held in Australia in October-November, head coach Rahul Dravid thoroughly backed Pant as “an integral part” of the side in the shortest format of the game.
former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who also served as an assistant coach with Delhi Capitals, where Pant serves as the skipper, believes that the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter can be a part of India’s squad for the Men’s T20 World Cup but the T20I series against England, to be played on July 7, 9 and 10 in Southampton, Birmingham and Nottingham, will be crucial for him to get back into form.
“He will be in the squad (for the Men’s T20 World Cup). But the England tour will be crucial as an individual, you want to come back into form sooner rather than later because very crucial months are coming up, like the World Cup in October and you want to see Rishabh Pant firing and playing at his best,” said Kaif in a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports on Monday.
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