India vs Bangladesh: How long can India deny Rishabh Pant a starting spot?

As the Indian team arrived at Adelaide on Monday evening, there were a bunch of fans present at the airport to catch a glimpse of their heroes. They lined up for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, of course. Suryakumar Yadav is the new fan favourite as well. Even so, a couple of placards caught the eye, hailing someone who really hasn’t been at the forefront of India’s T20 plans lately.

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“The King of Gabba” and “Legend Killer” were among the posters held up for Rishabh Pant. He has quite a fan following in Australia. The Indian diaspora is crazy for him, of course, for he has given them something to pride about after conquering the Gabba. Unsurprisingly though, for the same feat, he also enjoys admiration from the cricket-loving locals. It is almost comparable to the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag, all of them Indian greats who have enriched and regaled this country with their batting exploits.

Even so, Pant has cut a lonely figure these past couple of weeks. Mostly, he has been seen loitering around in practice sessions, for the chance to play for the Men in Blue in the 2022 T20 World Cup has not arrived yet. To his credit, Pant has kept busy and been ready for that call-up. He has not missed a single (optional) net session until Adelaide, perhaps on account of the intense wet weather and unprecedented cold temperatures here.

Also read: What happens if India vs Bangladesh gets abandoned due to rain?

Mind you, Pant has not been forgotten, neither by the fans, nor by the travelling media contingent. On Tuesday then, coach Rahul Dravid faced a barrage of questions, mostly pertaining to KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik. Those are the two pertinent spots Pant is in contention for.

“Rahul is a player suited for these conditions and he has a proven track record here. We are going to back him,” said the coach, when first asked about the out-of-form opener.

Backing Rahul doesn’t really come as a surprise. The team has identified pre-defined roles for almost all batters, and they intend to stick to those plans. Before the previous game against South Africa, batting coach Vikram Rathour had pretty much outlined the same, and thus it is too much to expect them to change plans just after another game.

The reason for this continuation is definitely to do with the conditions on offer in this tournament. Currently played in spring/early summer, playing conditions are more bowler-friendly than we are accustomed to during an Australian summer. The team management is also taking this into consideration when backing its players, and this reasoning holds true for Dinesh Karthik too, as much as it does for Rahul.

“DK hasn’t played many games, or many deliveries. He had one or two balls against Pakistan, didn’t bat against the Netherlands, but he build a good partnership with SKY against South Africa. In his position, he will not get many deliveries but he will have to play high-risk shots,” said the Indian coach.

Also read: Is Karthik fit to play against Bangladesh? Dravid answers

More than Rahul, the Indian think tank has predefined a role for Karthik. Even when early wickets fall, he is not seen as the one to go in and do damage control. Against Pakistan, Axar Patel was sent out ahead of him, as has been the norm for the past few months. Against South Africa too, that would have definitively been the case, if India hadn’t run out of batters. Mind you, Deepak Hooda did bat ahead of Karthik.

The underlying point is that the likes of Rahul and Karthik have been afforded key, non-changing roles in the team line-up. And yet, there is Pant, who is twiddling his thumbs sitting on the bench. And while he does so, he has to be ever ready for a call-up on any given match day. Even so, there is no surety what that call-up might entail – is he going to open or is he going to bat in the middle?

Before the tournament got underway, skipper Sharma had declared Kohli as the team’s third-choice opener, even though he underlined such an opportunity would rarely come by. Now, with that magical knock against Pakistan, and his subsequent return to form, Kohli will no longer be shifted from the number three spot. This automatically elevates Pant to the backup opener role. Will he get his chance against Bangladesh though?

There is a school of thought that Pant’s attacking, carefree style could be enough to counter these bowler-friendly conditions. His batting style of taking the bowlers on is partially unorthodox, but perhaps this is precisely needed when the ball is dominating the bat. Arguably, this thought process, if validated by the team management, also then begs to question of why he wasn’t picked ahead of Hooda against South Africa? Especially since Hooda didn’t bowl a single over on that raging Perth wicket.

As things stand though, Rahul will continue to be the primary choice to open, and unless Karthik pulls up injured, he will be the frontline keeping-finisher choice. On the one hand, it makes for an awe-inspiring visual that India can afford to keep someone of Pant’s calibre on the bench during a T20 World Cup.

On the other hand, you wonder if this is fair at all. Pant performed a plethora of roles in the build-up to this tournament, ranging from batting at number four or five, to leading the side, opening the innings, as backup keeper/batter. While the team management obviously wants to keep a winning nucleus and build a winning momentum going into the knockouts, it is also fair to ask how long will Pant be denied a chance here.

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