A lot of Indian fans were expecting to see the young wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant featuring in the eight ODIs that India played since his spectacular innings in the Sydney Test against Australia. Pant returned home to play for India ‘A’ as he was replaced by the by the veteran MS Dhoni. The former India skipper did well to bag the Man of the Series award in the Australia ODIs while Pant’s place in the team is still uncertain.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has come out in favor of Pant to be included in the upcoming five-match ODI series against Australia at home next month. That will be the Men in Blue’s final full-fledged series before the World Cup beginning in May. India’s first game at the mega event is against South Africa on June 5.
Rishabh Pant made his ODI debut against the Windies at home last October but failed to impress the selectors in the three matches that he played, scoring just 41 runs in two innings. However, the man had a tremendous Test series in Australia in which he excelled both with the bat and the gloves.
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Talking about the youngster, Gavaskar said, “I would also keep Rishabh Pant. He brings that left-handedness in the top line-up as well. And I would look at playing him in the team. I will look to play him in the five one-dayers that India plays against Australia in about two weeks time.”
Pant played an unbeaten knock of 159 in Sydney, amassing 350 runs in the entire series with an average of 55, finishing second to top scorer and man of the series Cheteshwar Pujara. Speaking on Star Sports after the final ODI between New Zealand and India in Wellington on Sunday, Gavaskar was asked whether he would see Dinesh Karthik as a back-up keeper for Dhoni in the World Cup. To this, he said he would also keep Pant in the side.
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Describing the same, Gavaskar said, “Pant’s presence in the Australian ODI series will give us a fair idea about how the young kid is shaping up and give him some little more responsibility at say 4 or 5 because at No.6 or 7 he is just going to bang…bang and blast it around and that is not what you want to see… All I am saying, take a punt with Rishabh Pant.”
The ODI series between India and Australia will commence on March 2 before which the two teams will play two T20 Internationals.
