Rishabh Pant is yet to make his return to competitive cricket as he recovers at NCA.
Sunil Gavaskar believes that if Rishabh Pant manages to regain full fitness during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2024), he should be picked in the squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 without a second thought.
There are reports that Pant will be making a comeback for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the upcoming IPL 2024. However, there are some concerns about whether Pant can withstand the rigors of wicket-keeping.
Well, the former Indian captain Gavaskar said that Pant should unquestionably be part of India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad if he fully recovers during the upcoming IPL 2024.
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Gavaskar hopes that Rishabh Pant gets to play the entire season without any fitness issues to book a place in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad. He also called Pant an impact player and a game-changer.
Sunil Gavaskar said Star Sports: “Yeah, he walks back into the team. He’s an impact player. He shows his fitness in the IPL. Four months to go for the IPL. He plays the IPL. Whatever he does at the IPL. If he plays the whole IPL without any injury setback, then he walks into the team.”
Gavaskar further said, “Whether he scores one run or no runs at all in the IPL. I think he is a game-changer. He would be one of the first couple of picks if I was a selector.”
However, unlike his Test performances, Pant’s stats in the T20I were not that impressive, and even before his accident in December 2022, he was struggling to score. The keeper had a modest average of 22.43 in scoring 987 runs at s strike rate of 126.37 in 66 T20I matches.
(With Firstpost/Star Sports Inputs)