Too Early To Decide If Rishabh Pant Can Lead India In The Future Or Not: Saba Karim

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has responded to Rishabh Pant’s being soared up for captaincy positions. Rishabh Pant led the Delhi Capitals impressively in IPL 2021, captaining them to six wins out of eight games as they topped the points table until the tournament’s suspension. But Saba Karim feels it is too soon to talk about the youngster taking charge of the Indian team.

In recent times, Kiran More and Salman Butt have spoken highly of the 23-year old, earmarking him to succeed Virat Kohli. Rishabh Pant has matured into a match-winner for India across formats in recent times. After playing an instrumental role in the historic series win in Australia, he also had an unforgettable home series against England. The southpaw has a formidable record in red-ball cricket, having smashed 1358 runs in 20 Tests at 45.27 with three centuries and six fifties.

Saba Karim said that it is too early to discuss Rishabh Pant’s possibility of captaining team India in the future. Nevertheless, Karim sees potential in the youngster as his unorthodox style makes people happy. The 53-year old underlined that Pant’s attitude is refreshing and drew similarities to MS Dhoni’s leadership style in his attitude and decision-making, remarking him as an instinctive captain.

“I feel it is too early to decide if Rishabh Pant can captain India in the future or not. He has the potential, the way he bats, he captains almost in a similar manner. He has a different style, which makes you happy seeing that. He has a refreshing attitude towards the game, he wants all the players playing with him to enjoy. I see a lot of signs of MS Dhoni’s captaincy in him, both in his attitude and his decision-making. He is an instinctive captain,” Karim said as quoted by India News.

It is necessary for Rishabh Pant to make his place more secure in all three formats: Saba Karim

But Saba Karim also felt Rishabh Pant must make his place more secure across formats as there are a couple of areas in T20s that needs work. The Patna-born former player underlined that it’s a good sign for India that plenty of youngsters, with Pant also set to receive an opportunity to lead. However, Karim believes the current scenario is too soon for the Indian selectors to see the 23-year old as a skipper.

“But I feel it is necessary for Rishabh Pant to make his place more secure in all three formats. I feel there are still a couple of grey areas in T20s where he will have to work hard. It is good for India that so many youngsters are coming up. At the moment, Rohit Sharma is also available and after that KL Rahul is also getting prepared nicely. Rishabh Pant’s number will also come but if you see the current scenario, I feel it will be too hasty to say that the selectors will be looking towards Rishabh Pant as a captain for all the three formats,” he added.

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