The Indian head coach Ravi Shastri revealed that Rishabh Pant has been sent back to India with a task as he has been asked to learn the art if finishing the games in limited-overs cricket, specifically in one-day cricket.
Pant won’t be featuring in the three-match ODI series against Australia and will return to India where he will get to enjoy a short break before joining India A squad for a five match one-day series against England Lions starting January 23.
Speaking to India Today a day after India’s historic Test series win in Australia, Shastri lauded the youngster and conceded that he is very much in their plans for the 2019 World Cup. The coach said, “We have asked him to go back because he played a lot of cricket. I think he needed a couple of weeks of break and then he will be playing for the India A team, where we have asked him to do a specific job to do – finish games. Get into the habit of finishing games. He will be right up there in the thick of things as he is as natural a talent that you can get.”
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Off later, Pant was criticized for his shot selection and Shastri even asked the southpaw to be more sensible with his batting after his dismissals in the Perth Test. However, in the Test series, he has shown some improvement as he took a record 20 catches and amassed 350 runs to finish as the second highest run scorer behind Cheteshwar Pujara (521 runs).
Rishabh played an unbeaten knock of 159 in the final Test in Sydney which ended due to rain and bad weather conditions, thus, handing India a 2-1 series win, their first ever in a Test series in Australia. It was his second Test century (first by an Indian wicket-keeper batsman Down Under) as he scored another one as the Oval last year. He is now only one of four Indian wicketkeepers – Budhi Kunderan, Nayan Mongia and MS Dhoni – with a 150-plus score in Test cricket.
Looking at his performances Down Under, it was shocking to see that he wasn’t included in the ODI squad but on Monday, chief selector MSK Prasad revealed that Pant was carrying a few niggles which is why he was given a rest. He clarified hat Pant will be considered for the World Cup with MS Dhoni being the primary keeper-batsman along with Dinesh Karthik.
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During his interview with India Today, Prasad said, “There is absolutely no doubt that he is among one of those wicketkeepers [for World Cup]. All the three shortlisted keepers are doing well. He is definitely part of pour World Cup plans. It’s a part of the workload management we are following. This kid has played the T20s and the four high-intensity Tests. Body also takes a wear and tear. He is having a few niggles, he needs to recover. I am sure he will come back much stronger.”
