Rishabh Pant Was Set To Be Dropped From The Cape Town Test – Devang Gandhi

Updated - 16 Jan 2022, 12:22 PM

Rishabh Pant.
Rishabh Pant. Credits: Twitter

Former national selector Devang Gandhi has revealed that he had heard that the young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was set to be dropped from the third Test of the three-match Test series against South Africa at the Newlands, Cape Town.

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was heavily criticised for his poor performance with the bat after the home series against England last year and his batting average was just going in the downwards direction.

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Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. Credits: Twitter.

Pant was rested for the 2-match Test series against New Zealand at home and he made a comeback in the side in the India tour of South Africa 2021-22. In the first match at the SuperSport Park, Centurion Pant registered scores of 8 & 34, in the second Test at the Wanderers, Johannesburg he scored 17 & 0. In the third Test at the Newlands, Cape Town Pant scored 27 runs in the first innings. However, in the second innings, he batted exceptionally well and smashed an unbeaten 100.

I heard murmurs about dropping Rishabh Pant after the second Test – Devang Gandhi

Rishabh Pant. Photo- AP
Rishabh Pant. Photo- AP

Meanwhile, Former national selector Devang Gandhi feels that the BCCI should restart the ‘A’ programme because the present selectors have to pick the players for Test cricket based on their white-ball cricket performance.

 “The first objective of the board should be to get the ‘A’ programme running. The present selectors have a difficult job. They have to judge players on white-ball cricket because that’s all that has happened in India in two years. They have to see who can do well in red-ball cricket.”

“The U-19 World Cup thus becomes very important because you will have new faces after a long time,” Gandhi told TOI.

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. (Photo: Twitter)

He further added that he had heard that Pant was going to get dropped from the playing XI after the Johannesburg Test against South Africa.

“I heard murmurs about dropping Rishabh Pant after the second Test. That’s not the way. Iyer, Gill and Pant should be told that they are senior players and be given more responsibility,” Gandhi added.

Also Read: “Few Have Achieved What You Have As Captain” – Ravi Shastri’s Heartfelt Message To Virat Kohli After He Steps Down As India’s Test Captain

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