Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has received much criticism for his form in white-ball cricket. While the recent T20 matches have been rather disastrous for Pant, some are calling for him to be dropped from the ODI squad as well, due to his form in the shortest format. However, veteran Indian wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has asked Pant’s critics to look at the two things separately. Karthik also supported Pant’s cause in the 50-over format by highlighting his average in recent matches, which also included a century.
Pant was not part of the Indian team that lost to Bangladesh in the first ODI. But KL Rahul, the player who took on the role of wicket-keeper in place of Pant, was the team’s top-scoring batsman. Whether or not Rahul will get the long-term wicket-keeper role is not yet certain, but Karthik does not want Pant to be sidelined.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said people can’t say that Pant should be out of the ODI format. Karthik believes that Pant should be given opportunities in the Over-50s format. But if he doesn’t get results, the team has to ‘keep going’.
“We have to look at it separately. In one-day cricket in the last 10 innings he averaged 45-plus. He clearly achieved the match-winning score of 120 (125 not out) in the recently concluded series in England. So he has it very well done for himself and when someone has done really well for himself you can’t look at him and say, ‘Oh, he should be away from one-day cricket,’ said Karthik.
“I think, you know, you have to give him a chance to be there and do it right and if he doesn’t do it right, move on. But you can’t just leave because he did something different in another country .” I think that’s also unfair to the player.
“I think because of the amount of cricket, especially T20 being played, of course they compare that and add those scores and say ‘Oh, he didn’t do well’. That’s not how we should look at things.”
Pant is not part of India’s squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh but is expected to return fit and ready for the test assignment.
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