If Rishabh Pant does not recover in time for the four-match home Test series against Australia beginning February 9, India may be obliged to hunt for a wicketkeeper-batter. Pant was killed in an automobile accident while travelling on the Delhi-Dehradun route on Friday, December 30.
He sustained many injuries that will keep him out of play for an indeterminate amount of time. Meanwhile, former India selector Saba Karim believes that although KS Bharat is a viable choice to replace Pant in the home red-ball series against Australia, Ishan Kishan is the ideal substitute for the 25-year-old.
“I agree that KS Bharat is being groomed for the post of Test keeper. But, with all due respect, I believe Ishan Kishan is a better fit as an excellent replacement for Pant, given the role Pant was playing in the Test squad. “He’s playing in the Ranji Trophy and has quickly struck a hundred,” Saba remarked on India News.
“We were winning Tests thanks to Pant’s presence because not only was he playing match-winning knocks, but was doing them at a swift speed. This put pressure on the opponents while also providing bowlers enough time to grab 20 wickets. “While Kishan has not played red-ball cricket for India A, he has been playing domestic red-ball cricket for a few years,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan seems to have established himself as a regular member of India’s playing XI in white-ball cricket. He got the quickest double century in history when he struck 210 runs off 131 deliveries in the third ODI against Bangladesh last month in Chattogram.
Returning to Rishabh Pant, the middle-order batsman has been rested for the next limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, which begins on Tuesday, January 3. Both Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson have made the T20I squad. While Ishan has been named to the ODI squad, Samson has not.
