India Squad SL Series: BCCI Selectors DROP Rishabh Pant from White-Ball Cricket, Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson now NO. 1 choice: Check Out

India Squad SL Series – India vs SriLanka LIVE: When BCCI released the India squad list for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, one of the major names missing from the list was Rishabh Pant. The destructive wicketkeeper apparently got the AXE from India’s white-ball format after his consistent string of poor performances in WHITE-BALL Cricket. Though a vital cog in the Test team, the sacked Chetan Sharma led Selection committee decided to DROP Pant from both the ODI and T20I squads. Follow IND vs SL LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.

Also Read: India Squad SL Series: SACKED selectors make EXPLOSIVE changes, KL Rahul dropped as Vice-captain in ODIs, Hardik Pandya get double promotion, Jadeja-Bumrah still UNFIT: Follow IND vs SL LIVE

India Squad SL Series: Outgoing selectors DROP Big BOMB on Shikhar Dhawan, veteran…

India Squad SL Series: BCCI & Selectors DROP Rishabh Pant from White-Ball Cricket, Paves way for Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson – Check Out

Once deemed to be an untouchable asset for the Indian team, Rishabh Pant has fallen from grace and has lost his spot in both ODIs and the T20Is. He, however, remains the prominent choice for the Indian team in the longest format of the game. With repeated poor performances, Pant gets removed from the series as Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka travel to India for a 3-match ODI and T20I series.

“Rishabh has done well in Tests and he is not out of form. But yes he has not got many runs in T20s. He will be back in the ODI series. He is crucial for us in the Australia series. In T20s, we have quite a few options including Ishan and Sanju who are getting runs in domestic,” a BCCI official told InsideSport.

India Squad SL Series: BCCI & Selectors DROP Rishabh Pant from White-Ball Cricket, Paves way for Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson – Check Out

Also Read: India Squad SL Series: BCCI & Selectors GIVE Sanju Samson longer rope in T20s in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s absence, Follow IND vs SL LIVE Updates

Rishabh Pant in T20s in 2022:

In 2022, Pant got the most opportunities, playing 25 T20s.
While he maintained a strike rate of 132.84, he had a dip in scoring form.
He was dismissed easily far too often on widish deliveries.
In fact, he could only manage just 1 half-century in 21 innings.
Among his two other rivals, Ishan Kishan had the most fifties with 3 in 16 innings.
Sanju Samson played just 5 innings but still managed a half-century.
He also struck at 158.4 strike rate, the best among the keepers and only 2nd best after Suryakumar Yadav.

India Squad SL Series: BCCI & Selectors DROP Rishabh Pant from White-Ball Cricket, Paves way for Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson – Check Out

So, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are now ahead of Rishabh Pant in the T20 pecking order. It was on the cards. Ishan, Ruturaj, Samson and Sky is a fabulous top 4. Expect Rajat Patidar to compete with Hooda and Tripathi for the last batting spot

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 27, 2022

As Rishabh Pant fails to perform in ODI and T20Is, this paves a perfect opportunity for Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, While Ishan Kishan continues to shine for the Men in Blue, Sanju Samson showcases his mark in the domestic format of the game. Kishan recently went on to hit the fastest double century in ODIs, and Samson enjoys a good domestic session after hitting three fifties in the Ranji Trophy.

IND vs SL T20I & ODI series

India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I: January 3rd in Mumbai
India vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20I: January 5th in Pune
India vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20I: January 7th in Rajkot
India vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI: January 10th in Guwahati
India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI: January 12th in Kolkata
India vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI: January 15th in Thiruvananthapuram

India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.

India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.