What happens to Rishabh Pant now, asks Gautam Gambhir
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir lauded KL Rahul for taking up multiple roles successfully in the Indian team for the ODI series against Australia, which India won 2-1. However, he also questioned the move to stick with Rahul over specialist option Rishabh Pant for the near future.
Already being moved up and down the batting order as per the team’s need, Rahul was forced to don the keeping gloves after Pant suffered a concussion while batting in the series-opener at Wankhede. India lost that match — quite badly — but they bounced back strongly to win the series 2-1, with Rahul starring in the series-levelling win at Rajkot. Not only did he give India the final flourish they need with his 52-ball 80 — batting at No.5 for the first time — he impressed one and all with his glovework later on, earning a Man-of-the-Match award for his efforts.
And though Pant was available for the series-decider at Bangalore, India stuck with Rahul. In the post-match press conference skipper Virat Kohli further indicated that the plan was to stick with the Karnataka man — something which Gambhir questioned in his column for the Times of India.
"Let's talk about KL Rahul, a fantastic human resource for Indian cricket. He has a good attitude, top-class fitness level, an array of strokes and leadership qualities. A concussion break to Rishabh Pant meant that Rahul had to keep wickets too, a task he did with assurance. This has now led to talk that he will continue this dual role in the upcoming limited-over games. I hope the Indian team's HR department - selectors and team management - have deliberated carefully on this," Gambhir wrote.
The former batsman expressed concerns over how such a move will affect young Pant, who has been under the pump for a while for his inconsistencies as a batsman and with the gloves.
"Second, what happens to Rishabh Pant? I think his confidence is already eroding under the constant scrutiny of his technique. I'm not sure how he will perceive this move. A fair and open-hearted chat with Rishabh will ensure the team performs well both on and off the field. Organisations can ill afford to have a talented but disgruntled youngster in the room," Gambhir concluded.
