India skipper Rishabh Pant's lean patch continued as he threw his wicket away in the fourth T20I against South Africa in Rajkot on Friday. In the must-win clash for the Indian cricket team, Pant was dismissed on 17 off 23 balls by Proteas Spinner Keshav Maharaj, and fans were left highly unimpressed with his lacklustre show with the bat. It was the third successive failure for Rishabh Pant in the series, having made 5 and 6 in his last two innings in Cuttack and Visakhapatnam.
On Friday, Rishabh Pant came out to bat at number 4 and played with caution as he tried to find his touch back. However, Rishabh Pant never looked settled out there in the middle and failed to get going. Eventually, the Indian captain perished on 17 after he tried to smack Keshav Maharaj deep into the stands. Instead, Rishabh Pant top-edged the ball, only to be caught by Dwaine Pretorius at short third man.
As soon as Rishabh Pant lost his wicket, Indian cricket supporters took to social media to call for his immediate removal from the national team.
Poor run of Rishabh Pant continues, 17 runs from 23 balls, India 81 for 4.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 17, 2022
Rishabh Pant – Future Captain pic.twitter.com/tS1NJslo7H
— r➐🇮🇳🏏🏏 (@ronakkumar_) June 17, 2022
please don't take rishabh pant in team take sanju samson instead of rishabh pant in world cup t20 https://t.co/5g5ZMDmBp3
— pawar narendra (@pawarnarendra8) June 17, 2022
I repeat Sanju Samson is Far better than Pant.#INDvsSA #SanjuSamson #RishabhPant
— Ali (@aliraza_tweets) June 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/msd07_king/status/1537805736222240768
High time for a replacement in T20.Backing is enough in T20,now he made his mind as a test player. But he is favorite child of BCCI😄. Replace him with Sanju samson, he is also an Indian WK Batsman, not a bowler😏.#SanjuSamson #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/L0bA0x8wRQ
— Sabarinath (@Saby2295) June 17, 2022
“Time to drop Rishab Pant from T20 format, ask Ishan Kishan to keep wkts & give chance to likes of Sanju Samson or Deepak hooda Or even Venky Iyer.. Man this Pant is a sitting duck in t20 format this season,” a fan said on Twitter.
“We have Ishan Kishan, DK and KL Rahul to take the gloves. Sanju Samson is also there. Pant is doing great in Tests but T20I has been so poor. He has average of less than 20 in last two years and strike rate is around 110. Concern is his way of getting out,” another wrote on the micro-blogging platform.
A third asked while referring to why Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has not been provided enough opportunities like Rishabh Pant: “Why is Rishabh Pant playing? I have never seen a match winning innings apart from Sydney innings. Why can’t we give the same solidarity to Sanju Samson?”
“Rishabh never deserved to be in the t20 squad. He just wasted all the opportunities from Sanju Samson's career,” a fourth opined.
“Sanju Samson would've cemented his place in the Indian T20 team if he got half as many chances as Pant got,” a fifth declared.
“Sanju Samson has failed to utilise the chances he's been given but pant has grabbed it like some genius. Insane level of hypocrisy.. 13 matches to Sanju but 47 Matches to Stunt. Kyaa FucKeeri hai,” a sixth argued.
Despite Rishabh Pant's failure, the Indian cricket team still managed to post 169/6 on the board in Rajkot, thanks to vice-captain Hardik Pandya's 46 off 31 deliveries and Dinesh Karthik's maiden half-century in the format. Dinesh Karthik in particular was imperious as he slammed a whirlwind 55 in 27 balls.
Meanwhile, it wasn't the first time when Rishabh Pant has faced flak for his poor show with the bat in recent days.
Earlier, former India cricketers Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, and Sanjay Manjrekar have all criticised him for his T20I numbers and even declared that his spot in the Indian team wasn't a certainty for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
“Pant's lack of runs is a worry. Like he does in Tests may be Pant could try and bat in ‘Sukoon’ in T20s too. SR will never be an issue with him. Shreyas Iyer might be getting a bit bogged down with several other batters breathing down his neck, he might be feeling the pressure,” Manjrekar said in a video post on Twitter.
In the 47 T20I games that Rishabh Pant has played, he has only amassed 740 runs at an average of just over 23. Rishabh Pant's figures include a low count of 3 fifties and a highest score of 65*.
Wasim Jaffer reiterated the fact that the Indian cricket team already has the likes of KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, and Dinesh Karthik, all of whom are wicketkeepers and can be utilised as stumpers in Australia.
“Once KL Rahul comes back, he walks into the side. He is a wicketkeeper as well. If Dinesh Karthik is certain to play, he is also a wicketkeeper,” Wasim Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo. “The way Rishabh Pant has played recently, I won’t call him a certainty.”
“I think he needs to score runs and score pretty consistently. He hasn’t done that in the IPL or in any T20 internationals. I have said this many times, the way he has played in Test cricket and a few ODI matches, he hasn’t done that in T20Is. So I won’t say that Rishabh Pant is a certainty going forward,” Jaffer further said.
“We know Pant likes to play that one way. He comes out and attacks. He’s not that best whenever he rotates the strike rate, tries to play the situation. Every time we have seen him do well and win matches for India is by playing attacking cricket. He does get out, can look a bit foolish at times,” Jaffer continued.
“He needs to go through this series and find out what lies in store for him. I’ve said this many times that he hasn’t cracked the T20 code. He’s definitely done that in Test matches and ODIs. He’s won Test matches for India single-handedly but he’s not done that often in T20s. He needs to take up the responsibility and do the job, find a method to succeed in T20s,” Jaffer concluded.
Follow Us
Subscribe