[WATCH] Relaxed Rishabh Pant shares video of feeding ducks

Team India’s keeper-batter Rishabh Pant has shared a video on his official Instagram handle in which he is seen feeding ducks in a calm mood.

The 25-year-old is not part of the Indian team for the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka at home. The Men in Blue will take on the Lankans in three T20Is and three ODIs from January 3 to January 15. While Ishan Kishan features in both squads, Samson Samson and KL Rahul have also been named as keeper-batters in the T20I and ODI squads, respectively.

There have been conflicting reports over Pant’s omission from the white-ball squads. While some claim he has been dropped, a few reports state that he is suffering from a niggle and has hence been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

On Thursday, December 29, Pant took to his official Instagram handle to share a video of him feeding some ducks. He uploaded the video with a cheeky caption that read:

“My Silly Point of the day 😄.”

The Indian stumper had a poor white-ball tour of New Zealand during which he registered scores of six, 11, 15, and 10. Before that, he was dismissed for single-figure scores in the two matches he played in the T20 World Cup.

He subsequently asked to be rested from the ODI series in Bangladesh. Pant, however, continued his impressive run in red-ball cricket during the Test series in Bangladesh. He scored 46 in the first Test and 93 and nine in the second.

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“If Rishabh Pant performs in the IPL, he can make a comeback” - Saba Karim

Former India selector Saba Karim has stated that Pant can still make a comeback into Team India’s white-ball squads if he does well in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The southpaw will again be leading Delhi Capitals (DC) during IPL 2023. Speaking about Pant’s chances of returning to the one-day and T20I squads, Karim told India News:

“If Rishabh Pant performs in the IPL, he can make a comeback.”

In 2022, Pant scored 364 runs in 25 T20Is at an average of 21.41. Speaking of his ODI numbers this year, he has 336 runs in 12 matches at an average of 37.33.

In comparison, the 25-year-old produced impressive numbers in Test matches. In seven Tests in 2022, he smashed 680 runs at an average of 61.81 with two hundreds to his name.