IND vs BAN: "I Didn't See Rishabh Pant In The Dressing room, We Asked, 'What Happened?': KL Rahul Discusses Rishabh Pant's Exclusion From The India Squad

Indian Batsman KL Rahul talked about Rishabh Pant’s release and his role in the middle order after the Indian batter scored an impressive 73 against Bangladesh in the first ODI.

In the opening ODI of the three-match series in Dhaka, Team India suffered a discouraging loss at the hands of Bangladesh. Mehidy Hasan put in a masterful performance as he remained undefeated on 38 off 39 deliveries, eventually scoring the winning runs in a memorable win for the hosts.

IPL 2023 | India tour of Bangladesh 2022 | Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score | Sri Lanka tour of India 2023 | New Zealand tour of India 2023

It was interesting to see Rahul bat at No. 5 and appear to be somewhat at ease in the position. Rahul had previously mostly played in the top order.

After Rishabh Pant’s exclusion from the series due to health concerns, Rahul’s inclusion in the playing XI was confirmed. When queried afterward about his middle-order position in the match, the 28-year-old India hitter reacted in a forthright manner.

IPL 2023 Auction | IND vs BAN 2022 | India vs Bangladesh 2022 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs SL 2023 | India vs Sri Lanka 2023 | IND vs NZ 2023 | India vs New Zealand 2023

“We haven’t played many ODIs in the last 6-7 months, but in 2020-2021, I’ve kept wickets in the one-day format and batted at four and five. The team has requested I be prepared for this responsibility. To be honest, I don’t know much about Rishabh Pant” KL Rahul said.

“I just found out in the dressing room that he was being released; I’m not sure why; perhaps the medical staff will be able to answer that issue, Whenever the team wants to play the role, I will play the role “Rahul stated.

“We had to focus on the game”: KL Rahul

Rahul continued by stating that the squad players learned of Pant’s absence from the wicketkeeper only in the dressing room before the game. After Litton Das, the stand-in captain for Bangladesh chose to bat first.

Without providing a sufficient explanation, Pant was released, according to the BCCI announcement. It turns out that nobody really knows what happened to Pant, not even the players.

“I didn’t see him in the dressing room and we asked, ‘what happened?’, and we found out that he was released. We had to focus on the game so we didn’t ask too many questions,” Rahul added.

India’s batting performance was dismal as no other batsman stepped up beside KL Rahul (73 off 70 balls). Both Rohit Sharma (27), who was rested for the previous series against New Zealand, and Virat Kohli (9), who returned to the ODI team, were ineffective in making an impact on the game.

Also Read: IND vs BAN: Rohit Sharma Didn’t Appear To Be Fully Fit Throughout The T20 World Cup, And KL Rahul Went Into A Shell: Maninder Singh

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah