the former India Opener Wasim Jaffer made a big statement on Rishabh Pant’s place in India’s T20I squad. In the absence of senior players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, wicketkeeper Pant has been appointed as the Indian captain for the T20I series against South Africa. The southpaw have not been at their best in the shortest format of the game with low scores in the current series with strings of 29, 5 and 6.
while they also had a heaviness IPL 2022 season where he scored 340 runs in 14 matches as Delhi Capitals failed to reach the playoffs.
Jaffer, who is very vocal about his opinion, said that Pant will not be sure when KL Rahul will make a comeback in the T20I squad as Dinesh Karthik has been performing consistently in recent times.
“You have KL Rahul, once he comes back, he goes to the side, he is also a wicketkeeper. If Dinesh Karthik is destined to play, he is a wicketkeeper. So, I am not certain, the way Rishabh Pant has played recently, I would not call him certain. I think he still needs to score runs and score runs consistently. He hasn’t done that in IPL, he hasn’t done that in many T20Is and I’ve said that many times,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
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Pant has failed to perform at a consistent level in the T20I format with just 3 half-centuries in 46 matches. The southeast has become a bonafide match-winner in Test cricket for India, but he still hasn’t made the same impact at the international level in the other two formats.
Jaffer compared Pant’s performance in Tests and ODIs to T20Is and questioned his place in the T20I squad.
“The way he has played in Test cricket, the way he has played in a few ODI innings as well, he has not done in T20Is. I wouldn’t say that Rishabh Pant is a sure thing for me.”
South Africa are currently leading 2-1 in the five-match T20I series as Rishabh Pant and Co will try to level it in Rajkot on Friday.
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