India’s talented youngster Rishabh Pant has seen a meteoric rise to the pinnacle of Indian cricket. On the back of his match-winning performances, the southpaw had cemented his place in the plating XI. Recently however things seem to be not going his way.
A poor performance in the last South Africa series followed by a sub-par performance in the Asia Cup 2022 has meant that the Haridwar-born batter has lost his place in the side. Dinesh Karthik’s resurgence is also a massive reason for Pant being excluded from the playing XI.
Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has come out and spoken about Pant’s struggle with form and believes that the wicket-keeper batter will certainly return to the team.
“He’s an important player. He has done it (made runs previously) in Australia. He’s scored hundreds there and won the Gabba Test for us. He’s an x-factor because if you see from 1-6, there’s no leftie batter,” Raina said in a chat with Zee News. Raina believes that in one or two matches, Pant might play which points to his exclusion from the India- Pakistan match on October 23rd.
“So, how they are going to use him, it’s very important. He’s a very good player and knows how to bat in pressure situations. Hopefully, the management must be thinking about how to bring him in. So, in one or two games, you could see him playing again,” the World Cup winner added.
You need to have a leftie batter as an x-factor – Suresh Raina
Raina emphasised the importance of a left-handed player in the team and hopes that the team finds out a way to use Pant’s talent. “It depends on where his spot is coming from. It’s all upon Rahul bhai and Rohit, how they want to use him in the eleven. You just need to have a leftie batsman as an x-factor. I hope they will do it,” Suresh Raina said.
