Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
Rishabh Pant came close to returning to the ODI fold in January. A three-match series against New Zealand was about to commence, and at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium nets, the southpaw was looking to be in fine fettle. Some of us, the humble hacks who were there to cover the game, were watching the net session. Pant took throwdowns before moving to an adjacent net to face the bowlers. Then it happened… He was grimacing in pain and walking back to the dressing room. He was taken for an MRI and the report revealed oblique muscle tear. The injury ruled him out of the ODI series.
As it stands, Pant last played an ODI in August 2024 in Sri Lanka. He was part of India’s Champions Trophy-winning squad in 2025. He was in the squad for the home ODI series against South Africa last winter. Pant didn’t get a game. Under Gautam Gambhir as head coach, KL Rahul has established himself as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in the 50-over format and has done well. Now, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee meets on Tuesday to pick the squads for the one-off Test and three ODIs against Afghanistan, Pant is considered to be on a slippery slope.
The 28-year-old has been struggling for form in the ongoing IPL. A tally of 251 runs in 11 innings at an average of 27.88 and a strike-rate of 138.67 attests underwhelming returns. Then again, his IPL form has nothing to do with his ODI selection. For a player of Pant’s pedigree, the selectors don’t read too much into the IPL performance. In fact, overall, they trust the players who are part of the system.
Somehow, Pant has failed to replicate his Test exploits in the shorter formats. In ajit agarred-ball cricket, he provides the pyro in the middle order. In limited-overs cricket, when the field is spread out, his game, especially on the off side, looks limited. A tally of 871 runs from 27 ODI innings at an average of 33.50 is a bit neither here nor there. India play high-octane cricket in the 50-over format also these days and there’s a school of thought that Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan, the way they bat, would be a better option as Rahul’s back-up.
The counter-logic is that it would be absolutely unfair to omit Pant without giving him game time. It’s a tricky call. If the selectors feel he no longer remains the batsman of yore, they have a couple of quality options to choose from. Tuesday’s team selection is going to be important for Pant. If he is dropped from the ODI squad, then he would be reduced to a one-format player.
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