Rishabh Pant is going through a lean patch in his white-ball career. Cricket experts want the management to take tough action against the underperforming wicket-keeper batter. Now ex-selector Saba Karim said that India should look for alternatives if the southpaw fails in the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh.
Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan can easily replace the left-handed batter. “I want to see how he performs in three ODIs. The team management should decide on his batting position and play him at No.5. If he doesn’t perform, drop him from the team and consider alternatives. Be it Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan,” Karim told India news.
Pant scored 10 and 15 runs in the two ODIs in New Zealand, while Samson was given just one chance, and he scored 36 runs off 38 balls. In 25 50-over games, Rishabh has scored only 855 runs at an average of around 35. In 66 T20Is, he has an average of 22.43, with only 987 runs coming from his bat.
Samson has an average of 66 in one-day internationals. In 16 T20Is, Sanju averages 21.14.
Karim also suggested that Rohit Sharma focus on his batting as it will also improve his captaincy. “The biggest challenge for Rohit Sharma is his batting. His captaincy will improve if he starts scoring runs,” he added.