In the five-match T20I series against South Africa, Rishabh Pant grabbed headlines for his string of mediocre performances with the bat. The 24-year-old was also Team India's stand-in captain during the series but managed to accumulate only 58 runs in his 5 outings against the Proteas. His scores in the games in Delhi, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, and Bengaluru read 29, 5, 6, 17, and 1* respectively. He was heavily slammed by several former cricketers, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar for falling into the off-side trap again and again. He was trying to hit the deliveries bowled well outside the off-stump to the on-side. In doing so, he was caught many times. While many former India cricketers and fans believe that Rishabh Pant shouldn't be part of the national team's set up the shortest format, especially when an in-form Dinesh Karthik is doing the job for India. Being a wicketkeeper and someone who has been designated as the “finisher” by the team management, Dinesh Karthik has won plaudits for his performances of late. In the recently concluded series against the South Africans, his stunning knock of 55 off only 27 balls in Rajkot got him much appreciation from the cricket world. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, had a tumultuous time out there in the middle. Rishabh Pant's poor shot selection has also put his fitness under scrutiny with former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria claiming that the Uttarakhand-born batter's fitness wasn't up to the standards that the Indian cricket team had set for themselves. The ex-Pakistan wrist-spinner feels that Rishabh Pant must spend some extra time in the gym to raise his fitness levels. Danish Kaneria was also critical of India captain Rohit Sharma's fitness and suggested he improve in this area.
“Rishabh Pant's fitness is not up to the mark and is very low. I would say it's rather mediocre. There was a massive change in terms of the team's fitness standards when Kohli took over the captaincy. But Pant is lagging behind when compared to others,” Danish Kaneria said on his official YouTube channel.
“Although Rohit Sharma's too isn't very fit, he is a batter, and it is fine for him. But Pant has to improve his fitness as he is a wicketkeeper. Even at this young age, we've seen how he hasn't been able to crouch properly while keeping in recent games,” he added.
“This is due to his weight issues. It has an effect on his flexibility too. He plays with an approach of hitting the bowlers right from the onset. Mental toughness and maturity will also only come with fitness,” Danish Kaneria continued.
“When you see Dinesh Karthik, he is super fit even at this age. We've seen that in his batting as well as wicketkeeping. Pant may have scored 70-odd in the warmup game, but he hasn't been consistent and his graph is going down. He will have to fight for his place in the team as there are other options like Dinesh Karthik, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson,” Kaneria opined.
Before raising questions on Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma's fitness, Danish Kaneria slammed Rahul Dravid‘s comments which signaled toward continuing with Shreyas Iyer at the No.4 position in the batting order.
The Pakistan leg-spinner pointed out that it would be “unfair” to Suryakumar Yadav if Rahul Dravid doesn't make him the first choice ahead of Shreyas Iyer in T20Is.
“There have been reports indicating that Rahul Dravid believes Shreyas Iyer to be more mature than Suryakumar Yadav. But I don't agree with Dravid's thinking. It would be unfair if Suryakumar Yadav doesn't get enough opportunities at this age. Iyer will have to perform consistently, otherwise, there's no way that he can retain his place in the side,” Danish Kaneria said.
Even India's former national selector Devang Gandhi agreed with Danish Kaneria's remarks, highlighting Shreyas Iyer’s struggles against short-pitched bowling.
“Shreyas' struggles against the short ball has been bugging him since long. But when one talks about Surya, what stands out is his versatility,” Devang Gandhi told The Telegraph.
“Not just at No.4 or anywhere in the middle order, but Surya can fit in even as a No.3 and is also capable of performing a finisher’s role,” he added.
Kaneria and Gandhi's comments came after Rahul Dravid hinted at continuing with Shreyas at the second down.
“I think Shreyas, in the early part of the (South Africa) series on a couple of tricky wickets, showed a lot of intent and played really positively for us,” Rahul Dravid said.
“As you've seen, I don't like judging people after one series or one game. And in this format, you're going to have some good as well as some bad games,” Rahul Dravid stated.
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