Sanju Samson kicked aside as Irfan Pathan backs Rishabh Pant among 3 wicketkeepers for T20 WC

Irfan Pathan has backed Rishabh Pant in the India squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Irfan Pathan also revealed a key reason why Rishabh Pant should be picked for the ICC event. The former left-armer also added Jitesh Sharma and KL Rahul as wicketkeeper to his India squad.

Rishabh Pant was out of the field for almost 14 months due to injury. He suffered a severe car accident in December 2022. As a result, he underwent rehabilitation for almost 14 months. The left-handed batter also missed IPL 2023, Asia Cup 2023, and ICC ODI World Cup 2023 last year.

In Rishabh Pant’s absence, other cricketers made an entry into the national side. Jitesh Sharma, KL Rahul, KS Bharat, and Dhruv Jurel were some of the wicketkeepers who got a chance after Pant’s ouster. Notably, the Delhi Capitals skipper was the first-choice keeper for Team India before his ouster.

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Rishabh Pant is a match-winner

During a chat with ESPN Cricinfo, cricketer-turned-commentator Irfan Pathan backed Rishabh Pant in his squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The 39-year-old feels Pant is a match-winner who can turn the game from any situation.

“See, Jitesh was keeping for India until now but Pant is back. Pant is a very exciting cricketer. He is a match-winner who can turn game from any situation. But he is returning after a long time. You would want to see how he goes about in these 14 matches”, the former left-arm pacer said.

“What is his fitness, how is he feeling, and if he is in form or not. Right now, I am not putting any pressure on Rishabh Pant when it comes to form. Let him just come back and enjoy the game. That’s why his name is there but he isn’t a sureshot just because of that”, he further said. Have a look at the video below.

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Irfan Pathan backs KL Rahul for T20 World Cup

Interestingly, Irfan Pathan also backed KL Rahul as one of the wicket-keepers. Rahul has lost his place as an opener in the shortest format for a long time with Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shubman Gill taking his spot.

“KL Rahul opened the batting in the first game. Ideally, you would want to play for India in a position similar to what he plays for his franchise”, he said. Below is Pathan’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

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Irfan Pathan’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jitesh Sharma, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohsin Khan/Arshdeep Singh.

ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will take place in June. The venue of the ICC event is the West Indies and the USA. Rohit Sharma is going to lead Team India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India is part of Group A with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and the United States.