India and Bangladesh are locking horns in the first ODI of the three-match series in Dhaka. Bangladesh captain Litton Das won the toss and invited India to bat first. Seamer Kuldeep Sen was making his debut in international cricket. However, the person who grabbed the attention as India announced their playing XI was wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant who was mysteriously dropped from the playing eleven.
The Indian Cricket Board released a statement stating that Pant has been released from the squad in consultation with the medical team. “In consultation with the Indian Cricket Board Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought. Axar Patel was not available for selection for the first ODI,” the Indian Cricket Board statement read.
Reacting to Pant’s sudden exclusion, commentator Harsha Bhogle said that the entire scenario has left him confused as India had a backup wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan in their squad but still asked KL Rahul to keep the wickets. Bhogle took to Twitter and wrote, “So, Rishabh has been released and Samson is in India! And back to KL Rahul to keep wickets when keepers are waiting for an opportunity and Ishan Kishan is there! I am quite confused.”
So, Rishabh has been released and Samson is in India! And back to KL Rahul to keep wickets when keepers are waiting for an opportunity and Ishan Kishan is there! I am quite confused.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 4, 2022
Rishabh Pant’s constantly failing with the bat in ODIs and T20Is
Rishabh Pant’s place in the Indian white-ball team has been under question after his repeated low scores. The southpaw has failed to fire with the bat in his last nine innings across the two white-ball formats having scores of 10, 15, 11, 6, 6, 3, 9, 9 and 27. On the other hand, the team management has made Sanju Samson warm the bench to make way for Pant time and again.
Samson only got one opportunity to bat in the ODI series against New Zealand and played a vital knock of 36 off 38 balls. However, the Kerala batter was not considered in the squad for the Bangladesh tour as senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma returned to the team.
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan also played a magnificent knock of 93 off just 84 balls in the second ODI against South Africa in October. The southpaw has played nine ODIs so far scoring 267 runs at an average of 33.37 and a strike rate of 90.50 with three half-centuries to his name. With the World Cup approaching next year, India have plenty of options for the wicket-keeper slot but don’t have much time to give everyone a long run in the team.
