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As Rishabh Pant walked out to bat in Mullanpur on March 23, there were smiles all around, perhaps even a few moist eyes. Nobody wished for runs. Neither did anyone think of India getting their designated wicketkeeper back. Everybody was thankful and filled with belief.
He took just two matches to get back into the groove. Against a powerful CSK, he scored 51 off 32 balls studded with four boundaries and three sixes – a knock that helped DC log their first points and also snapped the Men in Yellow’s winning run.
Five weeks down the line, it seems Rishabh Pant never left. He is fourth in the batting charts with an aggregate of 398 runs at an average of 44.22 and a strike rate of 158.56. And his keeping has grabbed even more eyeballs – he has effected more dismissals (14) than anyone else.
The DC skipper will understandably be a certainty as the BCCI top brass meets today in Ahmedabad to finalise India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the US and Caribbean.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta also echoed similar sentiments.
“Rishabh Pant is my first-choice wicketkeeper. The biggest question, that I at least had, was where he stood in terms of fitness after whatever’s happened with him in the last year and a half. Even though he did not get runs in the first two matches, the moment I saw him keep wickets, I knew he was physically better than where he was.
“You could always argue that he may have carried a few kilos extra in the past. But when you look at him now, he’s leaner, he’s fitter, he’s stronger. So without an iota of doubt, straight after the first game, I was like, ‘Yeah, Rishabh’s there,’” Dasgupta, who is a part of the commentary panel for IPL 2024, stated.
Pant’s lightning-fast stumping of Abhinav Manohar followed by a one-handed diving catch to dismiss David Miller in the same match, spoke volumes of the work he put in despite being away from the game for 15 long months.
Sanju Samson is likely to be the other wicketkeeper in the side. Notably, the RR skipper’s tally of 385 runs has come in two fewer matches and at a higher average and strike rate. Add to it his sagacious captaincy which has the Royals perched on top of the table. But he doesn’t pip Pant to a spot in the playing XI, according to Deep Dasgupta.
“I would pick Sanju Samson as the back-up keeper. I don’t care who gets more runs. It is about what you require. And what I require is somebody who knows how to bat at No. 5. Rishabh was always going to be my number one, even before the IPL began. I was very definite and I don’t think I’ve changed my 15 in the past month. A few names were penciled in, but I didn’t change it much just because somebody had a good IPL. It can be a little unfair. While I do understand when people talk about current form, I think form is kind of overrated in this format,” he opined.
Rishabh Pant, though, never quite nailed down a spot in India’s T20I side. A strike rate of 126.64 and an average of 22.43 after 56 innings fail to inspire. Most of his outings have come at No. 4, although at a timid average of 21.54. The number slightly goes up when he bats a rung lower, although with a drop in strike rate.
Below is the breakdown:
But the selectors aren’t spoilt for choices when it comes to wicketkeepers who can boss the middle overs.
“So we are talking about No. 5 and not the top order. Let’s assume the first four slots are taken. So whoever the keeper is will not play in the top four. Who is your best option? Who is a keeper who bats in that position? A couple of names that I can think of are Rishabh and Jitesh. Because, if you’re asking a top-order batter to go and bat at Nos. 5 and 6 for India, you are asking for too much, in this format. In T20s, batting at Nos. 5, 6, 7 is a specialist job,” Deep Dasgupta, who played 8 Tests and 5 ODIs, urged.
Dinesh Karthik has thrown his hat into the ring of late, but the team management is unlikely to again go down that path. Although Sanju Samson was deployed in the lower-middle order when India toured the West Indies last year, the 29-year-old has traditionally played further up.
How about slotting in Sanju Samson at his usual No. 3 spot?
So far in IPL 2024, Sanju Samson has notched up four half-centuries, something he never did in the past 11 seasons. In essence, the accusatory inconsistency associated with him seems to be a thing of the past.
If he has to bat in the same position for India as well, Virat Kohli will have to sacrifice his familiar No. 3 spot and open alongside Rohit Sharma. Facing the new ball isn’t alien to Kohli, but it’d mean dropping an explosive left-hander in Yashasvi Jaiswal from the lineup.
“Based on what are you going to drop Yashasvi? Yashasvi Jaiswal is a guy who’s your modern-day T20 cricketer. And he’s a left-hander right at the top. He’s created a name for himself in international cricket, much like Rishabh did a few years ago. Bowlers are actually on the back foot when you have someone like Yashasvi at the crease. So I’m going to stick with Rohit and Yashasvi opening,” Deep Dasgupta told Sportskeeda.
He further added that Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube would be better choices at No. 3 to follow up on a tall opening partnership.
“If both of the openers bat till the eighth over, I’d rather send Surya ahead of Virat then. Or probably even Shivam Dube, if spinners are bowling. So I’m not going to mess around with my openers, but I’d be flexible with my batting order,” the 46-year-old noted.
Performance of wicketkeepers in IPL 2024 (updated till April 29):
KL Rahul, who was part of the 2022 T20 World Cup, is also being considered as a potential second wicketkeeper and third opener. But Dasgupta believes the LSG skipper’s inability to accelerate from the word go makes him a misfit for the middle order.
“If you are looking at a top-order wicketkeeper-batter, the argument will be why KL and not Sanju. The requirement to bat at Nos. 5 and 6 is that you should be in a position to hit a six off the very first ball you face – be it pace or spin. If you compare their strike rate for the first 10 balls, you’d get more clarity. It’s not very scientific, but it’s the best thing you can go by,” he remarked.
KL Rahul has struck at 144.27 while accumulating 378 runs in IPL 2024. But most of his knocks have been built on a sedate start. And the fact that his last T20I was the semifinal in 2022 doesn’t help his cause either.
Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube?
Another raging debate as a prelude to the squad announcement is the race between Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube for the all-rounder’s spot. With Dube not getting to bowl largely because of the Impact Player rule, the former is primed to lend more balance to the side.
Deep Dasgupta, though, wants both of them in the playing XI.
“It lengthens the batting while marginally weakening the bowling. You’d rather have four specialist bowlers and then two guys who give you four overs instead of three guys giving you eight overs. But I’m also looking at the venues. And to be fair, not many people know what kind of surfaces we will get.
“If the CPL is anything to go by, we aren’t looking at 200-plus scores regularly. That’s where guys like Hardik and Shivam can force the pace in the middle overs. And you’d also get more flexibility in the lineup with an equal number of left-handers and right-handers in the top eight,” he explained.
Hardik Pandya is enduring a tough time both on and off the field. Ever since he replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain, he has been the target of vitriol by fans, which seems to have affected his performance. Shivam Dube, on the other hand, is enjoying a second wind at CSK.
But the luxury of having three all-rounders – including Ravindra Jadeja – would also leave the bowling department shortchanged. Prioritising the death overs over powerplay, Deep Dasgupta has Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh as the pacers to go with a lone specialist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav.
“I’m going to go with someone who has been regularly playing T20 for India in the last year. Arshdeep is not just a left-armer but somebody who’s really calm under pressure. And the same goes for Siraj. And these are guys who bowl at any stage of the innings. Since you are going with only two out-and-out fast bowlers, you'd want absolute bankers in the last four.
“And that’s the reason I’d prefer Arshdeep over Siraj in my playing XI, because Siraj is more potent with the new ball and not so much at the death. Arshdeep would be 50-50 for both ends of the innings. So I’d rather have those four overs filled in than worrying too much about the six,” he concluded.
Deep Dasgupta’s playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Jaiswal Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh
Bench: Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rinku Singh
