Rishabh Pant, a member of India’s title-winning squad during the 2024 T20 World Cup, hasn’t been picked for the upcoming edition of the marquee tournament. The wicketkeeper-batter has fallen down in the pecking order as far as the shortest format goes, with the team management preferring the likes of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma, and even Dhruv Jurel.
Pant last played a T20I in July 2024, with the selectors picking Samson and Ishan as the two wicketkeeper-batters for their title defence that gets underway from February 7.
Despite Pant’s long absence in the T20I setup, former New Zealand stumper and celebrated broadcaster Ian Smith doesn’t agree with the decision to snub the 28-year-old.
“I’d pick Rishabh Pant in my team any day of
the week,” Smith told news agency PTI. “I’m surprised that Rishabh Pant is not here. He is a wonderfully gifted player. He can win a match. That’s what you’ve got to have with T20 players. They’ve got to be match-winners. He’s a match-winner.”
However, he does think that reverting to Samson as the first-choice opener and dropping Shubman Gill was the right call.
“I think these sides are all about balance. You haven’t got room in your side for too many players who just have one discipline. In other words, they either bat or they just bowl. It’s all about finding the mix,” Smith said.
Smith reckons that the likes of Samson and Tim Seifert have batting as their primary strength and add balance to the side.
“Invariably, you’ll find now that wicketkeepers used to be batting at seven. Now they have to bat probably in the top four to be worth their salt. Their main strength will be their batting,” he said.
“Their secondary strength will be their wicketkeeping. The sides that have got one of those players who can do equally well with both. New Zealand will end up using Tim Seifert out of the BBL. He’s equally good as a keeper, as a batter. It’s hard to split his skills. Those kinds of players are gold to you because they help the balance of the side,” reckoned Smith,” he added.
