Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
An apoplectic Gautam Gambhir just stopped short of naming the individual, but it was clear at whom his ire was directed. India had suffered another home series whitewash in Tests, this time against South Africa, and in that press conference room in Guwahati, it was evident that the debacle had left the head coach with frayed nerves.
“I think accountability is important,” Gambhir had said. “More than the accountability, it’s the care. How much you care about Indian cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well.”
The context was an attempted Hollywood shot by Rishabh Pant during India’s first innings. The stand-in captain – Shubman Gill missed the Test due to neck spasms – stepped out to a Marco Jansen delivery and tried to send it into orbit. He got out in the process. It bordered on the atrocious. From 95/1 at one stage, India slipped to 120/7. They lost the game. That was November 2025.
Six months down the line, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting June 6 at New Chandigarh, Pant found himself stripped of the red-ball vice-captaincy. He has dropped from the ODI squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan that follows the Test. Pant probably has only himself to blame.
“He plays that way” is a lame logic, which suggests Pant has failed to evolve as a batsman. A Virender Sehwag analogy, too, is out of place, because a team in transition can’t offer such leeway to any player. No disrespect to Pant, and he should be proud of his Test exploits. But Sehwag was a different kettle of fish. Also, he had the luxury to play as an opener at a time when India boasted arguably the greatest middle order in the history of the game. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman formed The Beatles of cricket.
In the current team, beyond KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill and Pant, the batting line-up oozes mediocrity. Pant should have shown more responsibility as a senior player. The nature of his dismissal in the Guwahati Test wasn’t a case in isolation. He did something similar at the ‘G’ a year earlier, leading to his team’s downfall.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Agarkar spoke about how the selection committee still has a lot of faith in Pant as a Test batsman. “I mean, Rishabh is an incredible Test player,” he said. “Obviously, he is not part of the ODI squad at the moment. We want him to become the best Test player that he has always been. I don’t think there is any concern with his spot in the Test team. I think he is one of our main batters in that line-up.”
Agarkar added: “(He) had a really good tour of England till he got injured. So, I am sure he would like a few more runs. But he has always been very good in Test cricket. So, not as far as Test cricket is concerned. At this point, yes, we have gone with two different options in one-day cricket. But (in) Test cricket, he remains one of our main players.”
Between the lines, the message was loud and clear – Pant has now been reduced to a one-format cricketer, and the clock is ticking. Going ahead, he is unlikely to have much room for error.
As regards the ODIs and Pant’s omission, his last game was in August 2024. After that, although he was a part of the set-up, he didn’t get a game, as KL Rahul established himself as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in the 50-over format. With Ishan Kishan back to top fettle, Pant was always on a slippery slope. And with the team management seeking a left-hander to break the right-hander monotony in the top four, the selectors felt that Ishan would be a better value addition. Pant’s tally of 251 runs in 11 innings at an average of 27.88 and a strike-rate of 138.67 in the ongoing IPL didn’t do him any favours.
So, what next for him? This is the time to show character. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And there can’t be any doubt that Rishabh Pant is a strong character.
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