India cricket team star Rishabh Pant managed to retain his spot in the squad for the IND vs NZ ODI series despite speculations of Ishan Kishan potentially replacing him. The southpaw, who was last seen in action 16 months ago, was a part of the IND vs SA ODI series but warmed the bench throughout. Now, a report has shed light on how Pant was never at the risk of losing his spot in the ODI squad and how he won the trust of the selectors.
No question of Pant vs Ishan Kishan
A Cricbuzz report claimed that there was no question of Pant being replaced in the ODI side as he not featured in one since August 2024. The report stated that the southpaw managed to win the trust of the selectors by showing his commitment to domestic cricket. Pant will now considered as India’s second-choice wicketkeeper going forward and that the prospects of him breaking into the playing XI may become better in the future. With the BCCI backing KL Rahul as the first-choice keeper in the 50-over format, Pant will have to wait for a while to re-enter the ODI side.
The buzz over Kishan replacing Pant gained momentum after the southpaw was named in the T20 World Cup squad. He has been in red-hot form in domestic cricket, first by leading Jharkhand to their maiden SMAT title and then following it up with some commendable performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Rishabh, on the other hand, has featured in all VHT games that Delhi have played so far. In five List A games, the Delhi captain has registered scores of 5, 70, 22, 24 and 67*. Pant’s numbers in ODI aren’t too great – 871 runs from 31 matches at an average of 33.50, including one hundred and five half-centuries.
India squad for IND vs NZ ODIs
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal
