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VVS Laxman Says Rishabh Pant Needs to Justify His Place
By Shruti - Nov 29, 2019 11:44 am
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VVS Laxman thinks Rishabh Pant needs to justify his place in the squad or he might lose his place to Sanju Samson in future. Due to Shikhar Dhawan’s injury, Sanju Samson has been recalled in the squad for the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies.

pant
Rishabh Pant failed again

“The team management and the selection committee have passed on a strong message that we got a backup in the form of Sanju Samson. Rishabh Pant has been given a lot of opportunities and I’m sure that they will be communicating and giving him that security within that group,” Laxman told ‘Star Sports’.

“But then ultimately the player has to justify the faith the team management, the selection committee has been imposing on him,” he said. “Unfortunately, Rishabh hasn’t been able to do that, but he is that X factor. I still feel that he is an exclusive batsman who can come and change the course of the match just by his ability to hit good balls out of the park.”

Rishabh Pant was considered as India’s number one wicketkeeper-batsman across formats but he failed to perform both with bat and gloves. And, now Wriddhiman Saha has replaced him in the Test squad.

“As a batsman – there’s no clarity of thoughts, there’s no doubt that he’s under pressure, because how many times have you seen Rishabh Pant, when he is in full flow, play and he has a different mindset and technique against the spinners. I feel he will be under tremendous pressure to retain his place in the playing eleven,” VVS Laxman said.

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However, Laxman said Pant is still India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman before Samson for next year’s T20 World Cup but experienced MS Dhoni is pretty much in the picture.

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MS Dhoni

“I think MS Dhoni will wait with patience to see the performance of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Whenever he gets an opportunity and he will take a call after the IPL because the way I am seeing it, MS Dhoni is preparing himself for the IPL. I’m sure he will do well like he has done whenever he plays and leads CSK,” said VVS Laxman about Dhoni’s future.

“If both these youngsters don’t grab their opportunities, probably there is a thought that MS Dhoni can come back provided he shows that form in the IPL leading up to the World Cup. At the moment Rishabh Pant would be the first choice, his back up would be Sanju Samson and if both these youngsters don’t grab these opportunities then you can probably look at MS Dhoni, keeping mind how he performs in the IPL,” he again added.

He was also impressed with Shreyas Iyer’s knocks. He again thinks KL Rahul should open in the absence of an injured Shikhar Dhawan.

“I was very impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer has batted so far. The best part about him was when during the last T20 International in Nagpur (against Bangladesh) when India lost their top 3 batsmen, he had the ability to assess the condition very well and was very versatile in his approach,” he concluded.