The All-India Senior Selection Committee announced the squads for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Flamboyant wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant was one of the notable omissions from the squads as the southpaw failed to find a place in both T20Is and ODIs. Pant, who has been a regular in the Indian team for the past couple of years, has been going through a lean patch in white-ball cricket and the selectors took the tough call to drop him from the side.
Pant recently acted as deputy to Hardik Pandya on the New Zealand tour in three-match T20I series where he also played as an opener in the side. The southpaw has just two double-digit scores in the last five outings which has put him under the scanner.
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Meanwhile, he played an astonishing 125-run* knock against England in Manchester to help India register a series win. Many termed it as a career-defining knock for Pant in his ODI career however, the BCCI decided to give pick KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan over him in the 50-over squad against Lanka. Kishan recently scripted history by slamming a double century against Bangladesh in ODIs which helped him climb the ladder to make a case for himself to get a longer rope in the side.
According to a report in PTI, it is understood that Pant has been asked to report at the NCA for a knee-strengthening rehabilitation programme for two weeks. Hence, he will miss the entire Sri Lanka series.
But BCCI’s statement doesn’t mention whether he has been rested or dropped.
The fans on Twitter also reacted after Pant’s ouster from India’s white-ball set-up.
Rishabh Pant deserve better ???? pic.twitter.com/RyyGfWfO2i— Shamsi (MSH) ❤ (@ShamsiHaidri18) December 27, 2022
Rohit Sharma to both Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh pant for the ODIs : “dekho bhailog, mujhe lefty opener bhi mil gaya or wicket keeper bhi, toh tum log ki chutti”. #INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/gPhfniIbJf— Akshat (@AkshatOM10) December 27, 2022
Since the start of last year, Rishabh Pant’s numbers in ODIs are outstanding – average of 45, strike rate of 109 – and three innings ago he made an exceptional hundred to win a series away from home against the world champs. If he has been dropped, and not rested, it’s baffling— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) December 27, 2022
If you don’t have Rishabh Pant in ODI plans, you can’t win the world cup!— Talha Ahmad (@unorthodoxtalha) December 27, 2022
A gentle reminder that Rishabh Pant scored a match-winning 125* off 113 balls literally three innings before being dropped from the ODI side altogether. Terrible.— Pratyush Rohra (@PratyushRohra18) December 27, 2022
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India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
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