Kapil Dev puts onus on Rishabh Pant to come out of uncertain phase 

The 22-year-old youngster has been replaced in all three formats as India's first-choice wicketkeeper batsman.

As a cricketer, it is upto Rishabh Pant now to come out of the uncertain phase of his career that he finds himself in currently, believes the legendary former India captain Kapil Dev. With the yet to be cleared situation regarding MS Dhoni, then Wriddhiman Saha replacing him in Tests and now KL Rahul leapfrogging him in the pecking order for ODIs and T20Is suddenly, Pant is no longer India's first-choice wicketkeeper batsman in any of the formats and doesn't know when next he is going to play. 

"Pant is so talented. He cannot blame anybody. He has to look after his own career. The only way for him is to keep on getting runs and prove everybody wrong. When you are talented, it is your job to prove people wrong," PTI quoted Kapil as saying. 

Read Also: Ganguly reacts to Kohli’s decision to have Rahul keep wickets over Pant

The last thing a 22-year-old youngster, who is still developing into a more robust gloveman and batsman, needs is wrong signals with regards to his selection and that's where the role of the team management - skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri - comes in; they need to look after him and give him clarity, give him all the confidence he needs.

Kapil, however, put the onus on Rishabh once again. "The players have to look after themselves. They should never give the option to the selectors to drop them or give them a rest," he said. 

"It is the team management's call (to replace Pant). I don't know about these things. It is not my decision. The team has to decide who opens, who bats at No 3 etc."

Meanwhile, Kapil, who never missed a Test because of fitness issues despite the length of his great career, was also worried over the trend of injuries to Indian pacers. "When you play 10 months in a year, you will get injured," he said, criticising the scheduling. "You have to look after the fast bowlers. The conditions and weather in India is more challenging than other parts of the world. The team management will have to take care of them."

Hardik Pandya, considered Kapil's successor, is currently recovering from a back injury. "Pandya has to be worried. He should be worried about how fast he can get fit and come back into the team. That's important. He has to look after himself," he said. 

Kapil believes it'll be "our loss" whenever Dhoni decides to call it quits. 

"He has served the country so well for so many years," he said. "One day, he has to retire. It will be sooner or later. He has to go at some time. He is not playing matches. So I don't know when he is going to come out and say he has had enough. It will be our loss whenever he retires."

(Inputs from PTI)