Former Indian chief selector Kris Srikkanth lashed out at the Indian cricket team management and the national selectors for the poor handling of Rishabh Pant, as the star wicketkeeper-batter continues to struggle with the bat in limited-overs cricket.
The 1983 World Cup winner further asked the BCCI whether they were waiting for another one or two poor performances from Pant to finally give him a break or have him drop out of Team India.
However, Srikkanth said that he was disappointed to see how Pant is just wasting his opportunities and warned him to reinvent himself as soon as possible, otherwise, there would be a high chance of him missing out on a berth in the Indian squad for the 2023 World Cup.
Notably, the left-hander managed to cross the 30-run mark only twice in the 21 innings that he played in 2022. He is currently on the New Zealand tour, where he scored only 17 runs in the T20I series while he was dismissed for 15 in the first ODI against the Black Caps.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka: “Maybe you can give him (Pant) a break and tell him 'just wait a bit, come and play in India', they haven't handled him well. Are you going to wait for a couple of matches before giving him a break or remove him after one or two games?”
The former chief selector continued, “Yes, Rishabh Pant is not utilizing the chances he's getting. I am very disappointed - ennada Pant-u (what is this Pant)? You are messing up these chances. If you smash into such matches, it'll be good right? The World Cup is coming up.”
Now, he would be hoping to return among the runs in the final ODI on November 30 in Christchurch.
Srikkanth signed off by saying, “Already a lot of people are saying that Pant isn't scoring so it'll add fuel to the fire. He's going to put pressure on himself. He needs to reinvent himself. He has to do something right - stand and play for a while and then go for it... He's throwing his wicket away all the time.”
(With PTI Inputs)
