Pant’s career is too young but he has already played a few stellar innings. From being the only Indian wicket-keeper to score hundreds in England, Australia and South Africa to be the match and series winner in Australia against every possible odds, Pant’s stocks have risen quite drastically. It increased so much that he was made the captain of Delhi Capitals without a second thought. He has a forgettable IPL 2022 is quite well known. To make matters worse, he has had a forgettable South African series too. This has placed his position in jeopardy. Should Pant be part of the World Cup?
The next edition of the T20 World Cup is just a few months away. India is slated to play a few more T20 games by then. It is not that these games are needed to decide on the squad because it is more or less finalised already. Having said that, it is the performance of Pant that is causing grave concern to the Indian team in particular and for the fans in general.
Pant is not a middle-order bat
Over the last few months, Pant is clearly overtaken by the likes of Ishan Kishan and Karthik. In the 4 innings against South Africa, Pant scored just 57 runs and at a negligible strike rate. He cannot complain that he did not have too many overs to build and had to go after the bowling right from ball one because he played at the crucial number 4 spot and had sufficient time to settle before hitting. He cannot even complain that in a teams short of several first choice players, he had to bat at that position. I will not subscribe to that view either because there was Pandya who led Gujarat quite well.
I for one do not think that Pant is a number 4 bat in any format. India did that mistake in the 2019 World Cup and paid for it dearly. Despite his multiple failures for Delhi in the IPL, Pant still considers himself a middle-order batsman in T20 and ODI. The unfortunate thing is that the team management too sees him in that way.
Dravid defends Pant in public
Rahul Dravid’s words will have reduced the pressure on Pant a great deal but it is wrong to place your bet on a horse that may pull down the entire team.
“Personally, he would have liked to score a few more runs but it is not concerning him. Certainly, he is a very big part of our plans going ahead in the next few months. In the process (of playing an attacking game), he might go wrong in a few games but he remains an integral part of our batting line-up with the power he has and the fact that he is a left-hander is important to us in the middle overs, he played some good knocks,” he said.
The threat of perception
With new management at the helm, that thought must have changed but it didn’t. That is a real pity. His consistent inconsistency is neither helping him nor the team. The problem is that the Indian selectors and the Indian team management seems to select teams based on perception and not on form. Pant has been an outstanding success in Test cricket with his aggressive knocks. The reverse sweep six of Anderson will linger in the minds of anyone who has watched it. It is this perception that a batsman who can score quickly in Tests is an asset in T20 and that he will continue to pulverise the opponents with his aggressive batting.
The field is widespread in T20 and Pant’s chances of getting out is higher and he does get out invariably. Unless, this attention to perception changes, it is hard for Pant himself to improve. It is so unfortunate that a player of Dravid’s intellect says this. I would like to consider this as a coach who wants to defend his ward in public but in private, he is not that keen on playing Pant in the World Cup.
Ashish Nehra does not think that Pant must be considered for T20.
“Right from day one we knew he(Pant) is going to be popular. He came the first day and then got dropped as he flopped initially. Then he came back and made a name for himself. I am very sure he will be disappointed with the kind of T20 numbers he had.
Another wrong move on the part of the selectors
It was to have made him the captain for the South African series. Agreed that he wasn’t the first choice captain and that both Rahul & Rohit were absent but that does not mean that Pant was an automatic choice. Especially, with him struggling in this format. Ideally, Kumar should have been the captain. The former selector, Madan Lal, says
“I would have stopped him from becoming captain. Wouldn’t have allowed it. Because such a player needs to be given this responsibility later. Becoming an India captain is a big deal. He is a youngster. He isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
and rightly so.
The team that is ideally suited to succeed
With Ishan Kishan’s success at the top and his versatility as a keeper, India does not need 3 wicket keepers. Four if you consider Rahul as a keeper too incase of any emergency. All of them are above Pant in the pecking order at present. Karthik’s flamboyance and belligerence at the lower end of the innings, must have secured him a spot in the top seven.
His returns in the IPL 2022 and in the 4th T20 against South Africa must have ensured that. Ofcourse, he will still travel to the West Indies and the England T20s will give him one final push to press his case quite firmly. He must perform in those games because of the threat of perception. If he fails, he will be perceived as someone who will not be able to cut it at the World Cup and hence Pant will be under less pressure.
With Rohit, Kohli and Rahul expected to be among the top 5, I would like to see Surya at number 3 and Rahul at number 5 where he can unleash his grand repertoire. Hardik, Karthik and Jadeja will man the lower middle and lower order and this leaves no room for Pant anywhere in the middle. At the moment, Pant’s stocks are definitely low when compared to these cricketers.
Conclusion to should Pant be part of the World Cup?
I for one do not think that Pant must be part of the playing eleven atleast initially. He can be in the squad. However, it all depends on whether Rohit and Dravid think that Pant is worth persisting with inplace of either Surya or Karthik. If that happens, the bane of perception is very much alive.