Even though Rishabh Pant was overlooked for the home Tests against South Africa and Bangladesh, he has established himself as a leading wicketkeeper batsman in red-ball cricket after making his debut in England in 2018. The southpaw has already scored two Test tons outside the subcontinent – the only Indian glovesman to do so.

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However, Rishabh is yet to find his feet in limited-overs cricket. With Dhoni making himself unavailable for selection after the World Cup 2019, Pant has been a regular feature in India’s white-ball team. The left-hander has played 15 ODIs and 26 T20Is so far but the averages of 26.62 and 20.45 respectively suggest that he is not doing justice to his talent.

No wonder, Sanju Samson's name has been doing the rounds to replace Pant in the ODI and T20I squads.

Amid the criticism, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has come out in support of Rishabh Pant, calling the youngster a "special talent".

“These are selection matters which are dealt by selectors. But Rishabh (Pant) is a special talent and we saw how he played well in the two matches he played against West Indies. His record in Test cricket has been good but the end decision would be left to the selectors,” Ganguly told Timesofindia.com.

During the T20I series against West Indies last month, India skipper Virat Kohli had also lent his support to Pant, saying that the keeper batsman needs to be given some space to do well.

"We certainly believe in Rishabh's ability. But I think it's a collective responsibility of everyone around as well to give that player some space to do well. If he misses a chance, people can't shout MS' (Dhoni) name in the stadium as well. It's not respectful because no player would like that to happen. You are playing in your own country and you should get support rather than always thinking what mistake this guy is gonna make. No one wants to be in that position,” Kohli had said ahead of the first T20I in Hyderabad.