Rishabh Pant out of Test captaincy race, Indian team management identifies Rohit Sharma's replacement

Things have not gone well for Rishabh Pant in recent times. The wicketkeeper-batsman has fallen the pecking order in India's limited-overs teams.

Even though he was a part of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup last year, Sanju Samson seemed to have become the first choice wicketkeeper for the team-management. In ODIs, KL Rahul is preferred ahead of him.

Pant has been out of favor since BGT

Rishabh Pant is a part of the Indian team for the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy but has warmed the bench throughout. In all the four games that Team India have played so far, KL Rahul kept the wickets and is set to do it again in the upcoming final against New Zealand.

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While Rishabh Pant has struggled to cement his spot in the limited-overs side, he is definitely an indispensable part of the Indian Test team. The Delhi star has been one of the Test team's mainstays for quite some time now.

Rishabh Pant set to suffer another setback:

Even though Rishabh Pant is an indispensable part of the Indian Test team, he is reportedly not in the race for the captaincy. Rohit Sharma is currently leading the Test team but many believe that his days are numbered.

There are murmurs that Rohit might step down as the Test captain before the next World Test Championship cycle gets underway later this year. And while only time will tell who replaces Rohit as the new Test captain, Sports Tak's Vikrant Gupta has claimed that Rishabh Pant might not be one of the contenders.

Shubman Gill, KL Rahul next contenders

While the wicketkeeper-batsman is not new to leading a side, he is not seen as a frontrunner to become India's next Test captain. Gupta stated while the likes of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are in contention, they are yet to justify their spots in the Test team. He also said that the team management could take the bold call of making Yashasvi Jaiswal the new captain.

Jasprit Bumrah is also one of the frontrunners to become the captain. When Rohit missed the first Test against Australia last year, Bumrah had led the team to a famous win in Perth.

Vikrant Gupta named 4 players for test captaincy but he didn't include Pant.

Not to forget people often claim that Vikrant Gupta is PR of Pant. Few months ago he wanted to play other WK ahead of Pant in tests🔥
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— Riseup Pant (@riseup_pant17) March 6, 2025