“This year, there was a bit of pressure” - Suresh Raina backs star batter’s inclusion in India’s T20I team

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has backed wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant for inclusion in the T20I team. The 27-year-old was last in action during the five-match 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. The southpaw featured in four Tests, scoring 479 runs at an average of 68.42, including three fifties and two centuries.

He missed the last Test due to a fracture in his right foot and will not feature in the upcoming 2025 Asia Cup, which begins on September 9 in the UAE.

On Friday, August 29, Shubhankar Mishra released a video on his YouTube channel featuring Suresh Raina as the guest. During the conversation, Raina was asked whether Pant should be brought back into the Indian T20 team, and he responded:

“He should come back. In the last game (IPL), he scored a century. This year, there was a bit of pressure, the kind of tag that sometimes comes as an expensive player. I think he managed really well. I think he didn’t score runs this year, because he always performs well in the IPL.”

Raina added that although Pant struggled with form in IPL 2025, he is likely to perform better in the next season, having now understood his new team environment. The 38-year-old said:

“This year it was a new team, new captain, after Delhi he went to that franchise. Next year, Rishabh’s performance will be a bit different because now he has understood the environment, which players have the ability to change the game.”

“And there was also a new coaching setup there. It takes a year for any team, as I said earlier, earlier there were eight teams and now there are 10, and everyone comes prepared. They do homework on every player, because after your 15 to 19 players, there are 10 to 15 support staff there. They keep looking for weaknesses in players. So next year when he comes, I think he will definitely do well,” the former India batter added.

Leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Pant scored 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45, with a strike rate of 133.16, registering one fifty and one century.

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Rishabh Pant was part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team

Rishabh Pant was part of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma. The wicket-keeper batter scored 171 runs in eight innings at an average of 24.42, with a strike rate of 127.61 and a highest score of 42.

Overall, Pant has featured in 76 T20Is, scoring 1,209 runs at an average of 23.25, with a strike rate of 127.26, including three fifties.