As former Indian skipper MS dhoni’s future with the Men in Blue still not clear, the replacement wicket-keeper batsman names start to hit the list. Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson – Team India has surely done experiments when it comes to the wicketkeeper-batsman position.
The competition is at its peak between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as they execute their full potential in the chances they got. While it should have been Pant who would be taking over the position, his performance and form have got people questioning. The player has however been a hit with Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Decoding the talks, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has said that the main issue is Pant’s batting position in the team. Kaif, who is Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach, has seen Pant from close quarters.
“Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. He is an attacking player and he should play attacking shots from ball one,” Kaif told former India cricketer Aakash Chopra on his YouTube show ‘AakashVani’.
“At first, Dada (Sourav Ganguly), (Ricky) Ponting and I decided to send him early but then we figured out he has to play 10 overs. He should get 60 balls to play. This is something that the Indian team hasn’t done yet.
“An attacking player should get the role a finisher. I feel they haven’t been able to figure out on Pant’s batting position in the Indian team. In IPL, we know we have to make him play the last 10 overs. He plays his natural game in the IPL and that is why he does well,” he added.
These two aggressive players have been given chance in India’s tour of New Zealand. Where Pant, during India tour of New Zealand, was replaced by KL Rahul in limited-overs formats, however, he kept the gloves in the two-match Test series, which India lost against Kane Williamson’s troops.
In the 10 white-ball matches that Rahul has played as a specialist wicket-keeper batsman this year, he has scored 527 runs at an average of 65.87 and a strike rate of 125.77 including one century and four half-centuries to cement his spot for the time being.
Rishabh Pant Batting Stats:
| M | I | N/O | R | HS | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Avg | S/R | Ct | St | |
| Test | 13 | 22 | 1 | 814 | 159* v AUS | 2 | 2 | 83 | 19 | 38.76 | 68.57 | 59 | 2 |
| ODI | 16 | 14 | 0 | 374 | 71 v WI | 0 | 1 | 40 | 10 | 26.71 | 103.6 | 8 | 1 |
| World Cup | 4 | 4 | 0 | 116 | 48 v BAN | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 29 | 89.23 | 1 | 0 |
| T20I | 28 | 25 | 5 | 410 | 65* v WI | 0 | 2 | 28 | 18 | 20.5 | 121.66 | 7 | 4 |
| IPL | 54 | 54 | 6 | 1736 | 128* v SRH | 1 | 11 | 152 | 94 | 36.16 | 162.69 | 33 | 11 |
KL Rahul Batting Stats:
| M | I | N/O | R | HS | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Avg | S/R | Ct | St | |
| Test | 36 | 60 | 2 | 2006 | 199 v ENG | 5 | 11 | 237 | 14 | 34.58 | 56.45 | 46 | 0 |
| ODI | 32 | 31 | 5 | 1239 | 112 v NZ | 4 | 7 | 98 | 25 | 47.65 | 87.06 | 13 | 2 |
| World Cup | 9 | 9 | 1 | 361 | 111 v SL | 1 | 2 | 31 | 5 | 45.12 | 77.46 | 1 | 0 |
| T20I | 42 | 38 | 6 | 1461 | 110* v WI | 2 | 11 | 129 | 61 | 45.65 | 146.1 | 16 | 1 |
| IPL | 67 | 58 | 11 | 1977 | 100* v MI | 1 | 16 | 176 | 81 | 42.06 | 138.15 | 29 | 5 |
Also read: KL Rahul vs Rishabh Pant: Parthiv Patel Picks One as India’s Limited-Overs Wicket-Keeper
