Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has backed Rishabh Pant to come good in T20Is. He believes that the keeper batter along with Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav will play a crucial for India in T20 World Cup 2022.
While there’s no doubt about Pant’s ability in Tests and ODIs, it’s fair to say that the southpaw hasn’t found his mojo in the shortest format of the game. Although he has played some memorable knocks, what is lacking in his batting is consistency.
It seems he’s trying too much and in the process, he ends up giving his wicket. Now with T20 World Cup 2022 around the corner, the talks around Pant's spot in the Indian playing XI have become common.
With Karthik also making a comeback and Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson in contention, the clouds are hovering over the left-hander. But his recent performance in the ODIs against England might yet again have given the selection committee a headache.
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Speaking during the ICC review, Ricky Ponting said that he knows the capability of Pant in the T20 format and with in-form Dinesh Karthik also in the side, he would want India to play both at any cost.
He added that Pant should bat in the middle order while Karthik along with Hardik Pandya should finish the innings, which will make the batting line-up very dangerous.
"We have seen what Rishabh is capable of in 50-over cricket and I know absolutely what he is capable of in the T20 game. Dinesh Karthik has had his best IPL ever just very recently ... and I would be trying to find every possible way to have both of those guys in my team.
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“Rishabh to bat, in that three-four-five range, and have Dinesh and maybe Hardik Pandya... if you have those guys finishing for you, well that batting line-up looks very, very dangerous," he said.
Ponting said that Pant and Karthik should play ahead of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. He also opined that in form Suryakumar Yadav should also be in the XI.
"Obviously that means someone like (Ishan) Kishan or Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) or (Shreyas) Iyer, someone like that, might miss out and I don't think Surya will miss out given his current form. But when you got so much talent picking an Indian team is always going to be difficult and Pant and Karthik would be the two, I would pick ahead of Kishan right now," he said.
Rishabh Pant will be now seen in the action in the five-match T20I series against West Indies, starting later this month. The series will hold extreme importance for him as he would want to seal his place in the Indian XI for World Cup.
(ICC inputs)
