Ishan Kishan has became a constant feature in India's ODI and T20I teams in recent times.
His remarks coincide with India's forthcoming trip to New Zealand, which starts on October 22 with the T20I series and continues with the ODI and Test series. Pant's next season will be critical, according to Jaffer, and the wicketkeeper-batter must improve.
“I would say Ishan Kishan, who has taken his game to a much higher level. At one point, it felt like Rishabh Pant was well ahead of Ishan Kishan. But now, it seems Ishan is steadily closing that gap. So, I feel this season will be very important for Rishabh Pant, whether it is the Ranji Trophy, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, or the IPL. I think he will have to elevate his game. The gap is gradually narrowing, especially with Dhruv Jurel also in the mix,” Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
Jaffer was praiseful of Kishan’s consistency across formats and said that only a handful of keeper-batters are ahead of him and he can be played as a specialist batter in ODIs.
“Ishan Kishan has become so consistent across formats that, honestly, you don't see many wicketkeeper-batters ahead of him at the moment. KL Rahul is keeping wickets in ODIs, but Ishan is someone you can also play purely as a batter,” he added.
Kishan has scored 117 runs in three innings at an average of 58.50 and a strike rate of 174.62.
According to Wasim Jaffer, Rishabh Pant is now the best wicketkeeper-batter in Test cricket because he has had a fantastic career thus far and has produced multiple game-winning innings.
“You cannot put Rishabh Pant behind the others. He has played series-defining and match-winning innings on several occasions. He has been dismissed in the 90s so many times that I feel he might have scored another 10-15 centuries by now otherwise.
I think Rishabh Pant has been outstanding in such a short career. The kind of innings he has played is something I have rarely seen from anyone. We have obviously seen Adam Gilchrist do it, but after him, I don't think many players have produced such outstanding innings in such a short period,” he added.
Pant has scored 3,725 runs in 52 Tests at an average of 43.82, including 21 half-centuries and eight centuries.