Pathan advised Pant to take inspiration from Ishan Kishan, who used domestic cricket to earn a national recall.
Pant was snubbed from India’s ODI squad about to face Afghanistan in a three-match series. The omission follows a sustained period of lean white-ball form, including an underwhelming IPL 2026 campaign for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
The Afghanistan series marks the start of India's two-year build-up to the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.
On the eve of the first ODI in Dharamsala, Pathan stressed that while Pant has fallen down the pecking order, the wicketkeeper-batter should not be permanently written off in white-ball cricket.
Rather than losing hope, Pathan advised Pant to take inspiration from Ishan Kishan, who successfully used domestic cricket and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy performances to earn a national recall.
"KL Rahul is India's first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs. He has done well at numbers five and six. He is versatile," Pathan said while speaking to JioHotstar.
"As a backup, the selectors have brought in Ishan Kishan. Ishan can bat higher up the order and plays the short ball well square of the wicket. That is a smart selection. So, Rahul and Ishan are the two wicketkeeper-batters right now. The third in line should be Sanju Samson. Whenever he has got a chance, he has delivered. We saw that in the T20 World Cup," he added.
"Now, about Rishabh Pant, my suggestion to the selectors is not to completely ignore him. Yes, he has fallen behind in white-ball cricket. His form has not been great. But look at Ishan Kishan. He was out of the team too, but he used that as motivation. He played domestic cricket, performed well, and led Jharkhand to a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win as captain. Rishabh should take inspiration from Ishan and keep working hard. He should not lose hope of making a comeback in white-ball cricket," he further remarked.
Rishabh Pant last played an ODI for India on August 7, 2024, and subsequently sat out as the second-choice wicketkeeper behind KL Rahul throughout 2025.
Beyond the wicketkeeping debate, Irfan Pathan dismissed the notion that veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be automatically discarded for the 2027 ODI World Cup, insisting that their experience is irreplaceable in South African conditions.