Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif strongly criticized the BCCI selectors' decision to remove Rishabh Pant as India's Test vice-captain, calling it "beyond understanding."
The wicketkeeper-batter was sacked from the leadership position ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June.
Kaif emphasized that Pant deserved to be the deputy, considering his stunning exploits in red-ball cricket over the years. He also added that white-ball slump can’t be the reason behind the southpaw losing vice-captaincy to KL Rahul.
"I still don't understand why he was removed as the vice-captain. There's a big difference between white-ball and Test cricket. The problem is that we connect the two. Many players have gone ahead of him in white-ball cricket, but there is nobody close to him in Tests," Kaif said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
"Removing him from vice-captaincy is beyond my understanding. He deserves to be the vice-captain in Tests. He got the captaincy against South Africa when Shubman Gill got injured. We judged from just one Test match that he is not good at captaincy," he added.
Kaif’s comment came following India's dominant 165-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle, where Pant registered scores of 39 and 66.
During his quickfire half-century in the second innings, the swashbuckling left-hander scripted history by becoming the first Indian and the fastest player globally to hit 100 Test sixes. He reached the milestone in just 89 innings and from only 4,918 deliveries, shattering the previous records held by Australian legend Adam Gilchrist (137 innings and 6,578 balls).
Kaif was effusive in praise of Pant’s knock in the second innings, hailing him as the most impactful Test batter.
"A few people questioned Rishabh Pant's form. But his knock in India's second innings is another example that Rishabh Pant is the most impactful batter in Test matches. Indian team got the chance to bowl more overs because of his brisk knock. Even if overs had been reduced due to rain, because Rishabh Pant scored quickly, India would have had some more time."
Kaif, however, acknowledged that Pant needs to reinvent his approach to white-ball cricket after struggling to find consistent rhythm and high-scoring form in international limited-overs formats and the Indian Premier League.
"He has fallen behind in white-ball cricket and could not score a lot of runs in the IPL. He needs to up the graph in white-ball cricket. He will have to start all over again. IPL has a big impact on white-ball cricket, and his bat has been quiet for the last two years," Kaif remarked.
Rishabh Pant will next be in action during the second Test against Sri Lanka, slated to begin on August 23 in Colombo.
