What’s the story?
Delhi Daredevils and India U-19 star Rishabh Pant is in line to claim his maiden Indian cap in the first T20I against England that will take place in Kanpur. The 19-year-old had a bumper season in the Ranji Trophy and even scored a fifty in the second warm-up game against England before the ODI series.
Extra Cover: India vs England 2016: Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin back in both ODI and T20I squads
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With Rohit Sharma still recovering from his injury and Shikhar Dhawan not included in the T20I squad, India only have three players in Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh who are full-time openers.
With 972 runs in just 8 matches at an average of 81, including four centuries, Rishabh Pant certainly made a mark on the Ranji Trophy this season. What makes those numbers all the more impressive is that he scored those runs at a strike rate of 107.
Pant’s impressive form for Delhi, in the warm-up match and even in the DY Patil T20 Cup for Reliance 1, who eventually went on to win the tournament.
The heart of the matter
The lack of openers in the squad, combined with his impressive form is likely to mean that Pant looks likely to make his debut for India. In the DY Patil T20 Cup for Reliance 1, he scored a 14-ball 43 and 34-ball 84 before the second warm-up match where he scored 59 off 36 balls at a strike rate of 163.8.
With the T20I series being the last limited-overs assignment for India before the Champions Trophy in June, Virat Kohli will want to try out new combination at the top order, especially with the poor form of Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul in the recently-concluded ODI series against England.
Irrespective of whether he is picked in the starting XI, the 19-year-old is already looking forward to spending time with MS Dhoni and learning from one of India’s finest keepers to have played.
“I am trying to learn from Dhoni bhai (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) since a long time, but time never came, because he was different (in different teams). Now since the opportunity has come, I will get to learn a lot of wicket-keeping (from him) and he will make the mindset good,” he told PTI.
What next?
After winning the ODI series 2-1, India will take on England in first of the three ODIs beginning on Republic day. Following the T20I series, India have no limited-overs assignment before the ICC Champions Trophy that will take place in June.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The inclusion of Pant would certainly be a big boost for India at the top of the order given the unavailability of both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, who have formed a potent opening partnership since the 2013 Champions Trophy. Although he is just 19, his impressive and lack of alternatives make him a good choice to open the innings and also provide international exposure to a promising talent.
