Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned Rishabh Pant’s non-selection in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against England. While talking about Pant might have been rested after a tough Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, he added that Pant is not a certainty in the Champions Trophy squad or playing XI. Notably, India will play against England in a five-match T20I series, with the first
game in Kolkata on January 22.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “You picked Dhruv Jurel and didn’t pick Rishabh Pant. That’s an interesting one. It cannot happen that you are thinking Rishabh Pant is not capable of playing T20s, that he doesn’t do well in white-ball cricket. Are we going to take that call so early in somebody’s career?” I feel Rishabh Pant is an asset. He is a generational talent. He is a player you should invest in. He might have been rested as he has come after playing a long series. However, his name is not certain for the Champions Trophy. Even if it is, it’s not certain in the XI. So you could have kept him with the team.”
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Aakash Chopra also added that Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, irrespective of who had been named, would have had to sit out as Sanju Samson should be the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter as well. However, he also added that it would have been nice if the selectors had clarified Pant’s non-selection as well.
“I love the kid. How well he bats. Temperament is absolutely outstanding. We saw in Ranchi that the guy has the might. He was playing his first match and gave a Player of the Match performance. He played the first match of BGT (2024-25) and I am not going to go deeper into it because anyone can get out in one match. He scored runs in the side game he played before that. He has got a lot of potential and promise. However, when we see T20 cricket, the third ‘P’, which is performance, hasn’t come yet. So you have picked him on total pure potential. He is a middle-order batter for sure but he is also going to warm the bench,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
