5 reasons why Rishabh Pant deserved a spot in India's T20 squad

As the Indian squad for the One-Day Internationals and T20s to face England were announced earlier today, there were a few surprise inclusions in the 15 member squads for both the formats. While Yuvraj Singh made a comeback to the ODI squad after a gap of three years, Suresh Raina, who has been under the radar for his performances paved his way back to the T20 squad.

The selection committee also decided to pick 19-year-old youngster Rishabh Pant in the squad for the T20 series. While his selection did come as a breath of fresh air, it will be interesting to see if the youngster can duplicate his incredible domestic success on the big stage as well.

In this article, we take a look at the 5 reasons why Pant deserved a spot in India’s T20 squad.

#5 Excellent U-19 form

The U-19 world cup which was held last year in Bangladesh gave everyone a glimpse of what to expect from Pant. He played an integral role in India’s road to the final by putting in a few spectacular performances with the bat.

In six matches, he scored 267 runs at an average of 44.50 with one century and two half-centuries to his name. What got everyone’s attention was his exceptional strike rate of 104.29. He was tied second for the highest number of sixes hit in the entire tournament. It was his success at the U-19 level which got him into the Delhi state team for the Ranji Trophy this season.

#4 Wicketkeeping abilities

With age catching up to him, India’s former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni might not have a lot of time left on his side. As he announced his resignation as captain just a couple of days ago, many people feel he soon might retire from the game.

Even if he does stay on for another few years, it is important that there is another backup wicket keeper who could take up the role once Dhoni retires, or even if Dhoni decided to give up his role as the keeper and just continue on as a batsman.

#3 Stroke making ability

Pant stormed into the limelight with his flashy stroke play and his ability to decimate the opposition bowlers, no matter what the circumstance is. He is able to poke the good balls into gaps and throttle most others, with his head straight, wrists soft and balance sublime.

The ease with which he smashed the ball to all parts of the ground reminded us all of former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist. If he can go to emulate the legendary Australian, it would be nothing but good news for Indian cricket.

#2 IPL form

After being picked up for 1.9 crores by the Delhi Daredevils last season, Pant proved his worth by putting in a good show for his side last year. He played 10 matches, where he scored 198 runs at an average of 24.75 and strike-rate of 130.26 with one half-century to his name.

Unfortunately for him, the Daredevils were knocked out in the round-robin stage as they finished sixth after winning 7 matches and losing the other 7. His success at the IPL goes to show that he has the experience of facing world-class international bowlers and he will be looking to replicate his IPL success for India as well, when they come up against England in the 3 match T20 series.

#1 Superb domestic season

The 19-year-old youngster was definitely one of the standout performers in this season’s Ranji Trophy. Despite Delhi not winning a lot of matches and not being able to qualify for the knockout stage, Pant gave the fans something to cheer about with his swashbuckling performances.

In the 8 matches he played for Delhi, he scored 927 runs at an average of 92.70 at a phenomenal strike rate of 111.95 with 4 centuries and 2 half-centuries to his name.

He was breaking records for fun and in Delhi’s match against Jharkhand, he broke a 28-year-old record by scoring the quickest ever century in the Ranji Trophy, achieving his feat in 48 balls.He also became only the 2nd wicket-keeper batsman in Ranji Trophy history to score a triple century and the 3rd youngest ever to do so.