Salman Butt on Rishabh Pant - “Why is he batting above Suryakumar Yadav?”

Salman Butt criticized India's decision to send Rishabh Pant ahead of Suryakumar Yadav twice during the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand.

The former Pakistan player feels that in-form player Yadav should be given maximum deliveries and not the other way around.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt said:

“What I didn’t understand is why is he (Rishabh Pant) batting above Suryakumar Yadav. The person in the best form. He plays top cricket, but you are playing someone above him who doesn’t have form. Who should play more? Someone in form or the other way round? He is the world's No.1 T20I player.”

Yadav, however, could only score 44 runs in three matches. His two single-digit scores of six and four runs came while batting after Pant in the first and third ODIs.

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“He should have scored more runs” – Salman Butt on Rishabh Pant

Salman Butt, meanwhile, praised Pant for his attacking cricket but felt that he should have scored more runs on the New Zealand tour.

“Rishabh Pant is a flashy player. He plays with an open mindset. However, he couldn’t deliver as per expectation in the New Zealand series. Obviously, he should have scored more runs.”

It’s worth mentioning that Pant had terrible outings on the New Zealand tour, scoring six and 11 runs in T20Is and 15 and 10 runs in the ODI series.

Pant will next be seen in action during the ODI series in Bangladesh, starting in Mirpur on Sunday (December 4). The remaining T20Is will be held at the same venue on December 7 and December 10.

A number of senior players, including Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli will return for the ODI series after being rested after the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Yadav has been rested for the three-match ODI series.

India's squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.

The Men in Blue are also scheduled to play a couple of Tests in Bangladesh in December.