Reetinder Singh Sodhi believes it will not be too harsh if Rishabh Pant is dropped from Team India’s playing XI for the third Test against South Africa.
Pant was dismissed while playing an ungainly shot even before he opened his account in India’s second innings of the Johannesburg Test. Rahul Dravid mentioned in the post-match press conference that the team management would speak to the dashing wicketkeeper-batter about the timing of his shot selection.
During a discussion on India News, Reetinder Sodhi was asked if the Indian team should persist with Rishabh Pant under the circumstances. He responded:
“There was a time when if you played a bad shot and your team suffered because of that, you were made to sit out the next match as a lesson. That is not the case now, Rishabh Pant is your superstar.”
The former India all-rounder added that it would not be a big deal if Rishabh Pant is left out of the side. Sodhi reasoned:
“But whether a big or small player makes a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. Rishabh Pant would have been spoken to a lot and it will not be a huge thing even if he is made to sit out as a lesson because these mistakes are happening repeatedly.”
“Unbelievable, you will call that stupidity and not bravery. The way Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara got you back in this Test match, you have given it Back to South Africa. This is not Test Cricket.” – Gautam Gambhir (Talking about Rishabh Pant’s dismissal)
The match was intriguingly poised when Pant walked out to bat in the second innings at the Wanderers. However, his rash dismissal handed over the advantage to the Proteas, who subsequently went on to win the Test match and level the series.
“Rishabh Pant should definitely play” – Saba Karim
Saba Karim, however, expressed a contrary view to that of Sodhi. He said:
“He [Rishabh Pant] should definitely play. Has any big cricketer not played a shot like this before and gotten dismissed because of that? It used to happen in a different era, 20-25 years ago.”
The former selector highlighted that Pant is a blessing for Team India and that the youngster would learn from his mistakes. Karim explained:
“This is how you learn. You will have to talk to him and make that player understand, so that learns a lot from this. He is a huge asset to the team. We forget very quickly, would we have won the series in Australia if this player had not made runs.”
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Pant has played a significant role in some of Team India’s most memorable wins in the last year or so. However, the flamboyant cricketer has averaged just 19.23 with the bat in his last seven Tests, which has added to Team India’s middle-order woes.
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