Rishabh Pant losing his place to Wriddhiman Saha and KL Rahul in both red and white-ball formats in recent times took Ajay Ratra back to his own days. The former wicketkeeper batsman, like Pant, also played at the time when Indian cricket was moving on from a longstanding gloveman - Nayan Mongia - and the selectors just happened to be in trial and testing mood.
In that three-year period from 1999 to 2002, the selectors picked as many as five wicketkeepers - MSK Prasad, Saba Karim, Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe and Deep Dasgupta - to play for India, with Ratra being the sixth.
Ratra's six Tests, 12 ODIs included a century in whites against West Indies, which made him youngest Indian wicketkeeper to score an overseas ton at 20. But only three Tests later, he lost his place to Parthiv Patel.
Similar to what happened to Pant when he came back to India following successful tours to England, Australia, as he was dropped in favour of Saha for the home season against South Africa, Bangladesh. And even though he got back for the Test series in New Zealand, Pant's rhythm looked way off after spending such significant time on the benches.
"I feel the connection here. The situation is similar to what it was during the early 2000s," Ratra, now 38, told TOI. "I feel it is bound to happen when a big player suddenly stops playing. Earlier it was Nayan Mongia and now it is (MS) Dhoni. Both had played for a long time and when you have a stable, consistent player for a particular slot, the bench strength doesn’t get much attention."
“And then experiments happen,” he said. "Also, when big names like Mongia and Dhoni play, it becomes unimaginable to replace them, even for the probable candidates."
In limited-overs cricket, like Pant to Rahul since Australia series in January, India soon moved on to another Rahul from Bangalore during Ratra's time as Dravid aided the batting depth.
"We both were replaced by a batsman from Bangalore, named Rahul," he laughed. "On a serious note, I feel Rishabh has a lot of potential and it was evident when he scored centuries in England and Australia. It is no mean feat to score big runs overseas. He, however, needs to work on his keeping and age is on his side."
"On the other hand, we have Saha, who has shown immense skills behind the stumps, he is not a bad batter either. I feel both Saha and Pant should get longer ropes as it is only about time that they will click with their skills."
But even Ratra wouldn't shy admitting that Pant is more of an exceptional talent. And that's why, it is important that he is given more clarity with regards to his position in the team across formats. India can't let that ability to go to waste.
(Inputs from TOI)
