The Indian team is trailing by 2-1 in the five-match T20I series against South Africa. The fourth match will take place on Friday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. It is a do or die game for the home team to stay alive in the series. But before that, Rishabh Pant and his team need to address some loopholes ahead of the fourth match.
The biggest worry for them is the form of the middle-order batsmen. In particular, the form of the skipper, Rishabh Pant, is a big worry. The wicket-keeper bats at No. 4, but his numbers are unacceptable. In three games, Pant has just scored 40 runs at an average of 13.33.
But if India needs to do well in the upcoming T20Is, the skipper needs to make a significant contribution. Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer reckons that Pant needs to be consistent because he may not feature consistently in the playing XI.
In a discussion on ESPN Cricinfo, Jaffer said that once KL Rahul is fit, he could be the first choice wicket-keeper in the team. On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik is also doing well, so he is the other option for the wicket-keeper role. He added, “So, I am not too sure, with the way Rishabh Pant has played recently, I won’t call him a certainty. I think he still needs to score runs and score consistently.”
The former opener also highlighted that Pant didn’t score in the IPL as well as in the ongoing T20I series. He also said that the way he has found success in Test cricket and has some good innings in ODIs under his belt is totally different to his T20Is performance. Jaffer concluded that it is one of the reasons that he is not sure that the 24-year-old may make it to the T20 XI all the time.
Overall, the DC skipper scored 340 runs in 14 IPL innings at an average of 30.91. He was not able to cross the 50-run mark even once in the entire tournament, despite playing at No. 4.
Speaking of his T20I career, he has represented India in 46 games. He has scored 723 runs at a low average of 23.32 and a strike rate of 125.95. So this is a wake-up call for the 24-year-old as the World Cup is around the corner.