In 2016, India U-19 team lost the final against West Indies when Rishabh Pant opened teh innings along with his captain Ishan Kishan. next year, Pant made his India debut in a T20I match against England and now he has dropped from India ODI ad T20I squad for the Australia tour. On the flip side, an in-form Ishan Kishan, who has currently the 4th highest runs (483) in the IPL 2020 season, is still uncapped.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has recently made some very good points while writing for Hindustan Times. He wrote: “Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan are contemporaries. I remember them being part of the India U19 team in the World Cup in Dhaka in 2016; Rahul Dravid was their coach. Pant and Kishan were the “alphas” in that team, Kishan more obviously so, being the captain.”
ALSO READ: Wasim Akram Feels Team India Has Confidence Like Pakistan Of 90s
He further added, “Pant was flamboyant in the way he played his cricket while Kishan was more measured in his approach. As it happens in sport, you see your contemporaries—people you shared rooms with—getting fast-tracked into the national team, while you wait longingly for your turn.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator has asserted that Ishan Kishan’s hard-work has given him an upper hand when it comes to the batting potential of the two contemporaries. He has added that the competition between Pant and Kishan for the wicketkeeper’s spot will be an intriguing one.
Manjrekar elaborated, “His (Pant’s) absence from India’s white-ball squads is a massive setback; just a few months back, he was a “star”. Meanwhile, his once U19 captain Kishan has slowly developed his T20 game, as is apparent in the superb season he is having for Mumbai Indians. He can hit quality fast bowlers out of the ground too and seems to have acquired more gears to his batting than Pant does. This will be an intriguing contest within a contest in Indian cricket.”
ALSO READ: Virat Kohli Gave A Heart-warming Speech To players After RCB’s Loss
Notably, Pant had amassed 488 runs in IPL 2019, but in the ongoing season, the Delhi batsman had only managed to score just 285 runs in his 12 matches. The 23-year-old has failed to score even a single fifty in the 13th edition of the league.
