India’s former batsman Virender Sehwag has supported the selector’s decision to keep Rishabh Pant out of the ODI and T20I squads. Pant has not included in the ODI and T20I format against the Aussies regarding that Sehwag advised the left-hander to learn to finish matches.
October 26 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for their tour of Australia. The squad has included the new generation players based on their IPL 2020 performance.
Sehwag Advice to Rishabh Pant
During an interaction on Crizbuzz, Sehwag said, “Rishabh Pant’s omission wasn’t surprising because even in the last tour, he was not in the playing XI after being fit. This was probably a message to Pant that he needs to change his style and start finishing games.”
The reason why Rahul Dravid did Wicket-Keeping
Viru also talked about the early 2000s and added, “During our time, Rahul Dravid used to keep the wickets because we did not have a good wicketkeeper till Dhoni was included in the team. So, Rahul Dravid was used as a keeper as he would also play as an extra batsman.”
Possible Reason for Pant’s exclusion
Sehwag said, “Rishabh even after being good, the way he throws away his wicket while batting and doesn’t finish matches, could be the reason why skipper Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri or the selectors might not be happy with him.”
“Rishabh Pant needs to improve in the chances he’s given and finish matches and show that he has the capability to return to the Indian team,” said Sehwag.
Pant’s Stats so far
Pant has so far played 13 Tests, 16 ODIs, and 27 T20Is. He has an average of 38.76 in Tests and 26.1 in the ODIs, while in 20-over cricket, the left-hander has an average of 20.5
He has also appeared in 63 matches in the Indian Premier League and is currently playing in IPL 2020 with the Delhi Capitals.