Cricket News: Rishabh Pant involved in a serious car accident that could change his status as India's perennial wicketkeeper
When India's squad for the Sri Lanka white ball series was announced, there was some confusion over the fact that Sanju Samson was named in the T20I squad but not the ODI squad
Rishabh Pant has suffered injuries to his forehead and leg.The main reason for this confusion was that Sanju Samson had been named in the ODI squads whenever possible over the past calendar year and was also being groomed as a finisher for the format.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cricketer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RishabhPant?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RishabhPant</a> met with an accident on Delhi-Dehradun highway, car catches fire. Admitted to Max Hospital Dehradun after primary treatment at Roorkee Civil Hospital. <a href="https://t.co/z7cOf2iyMy">pic.twitter.com/z7cOf2iyMy</a></p>— Rajasekar (@sekartweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/sekartweets/status/1608673473911721984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This isn't speculation due to his batting order either; he admitted in an interview with Star Sports that the BCCI had told him to prepare for a finisher's role.
But he is now in the T20I squad, where he is unlikely to get a game and not part of the ODI squad, which is baffling.
India are quite clearly committed to having KL Rahul be a part of the squad, come what may, and that is why it is notable that when he was included in the ODI squad, he was named as a wicketkeeper rather than just a pure batsman.
It is a head-scratcher of a decision, not least because India have tried this experiment before and abandoned it due to the benefits of having a full-time wicketkeeper in the XI.
Yet here we are, in 2022 going into 2023, and the experiment has been brought back seemingly from the dead.
And if one thinks that this leaves Samson in a lurch, imagine the plight of Rishabh Pant, who has been left out of both the ODI and T20I squads.
Now it is worth noting that this isn't him being dropped – he has reported to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for strength and conditioning training, keeping in mind that the Australia Test series will be a strenuous one.
But what about his white-ball hopes? He went from competing against Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan to automatically competing for a spot against KL Rahul.
And that is, in many ways, an unfair competition – Rahul is not only a more senior member of the squad but also the team's vice-captain across formats.
In fact, during the Bangladesh Test series, there is every chance that Shubman Gill would have had to sit out of the second Test despite scoring a ton in the first if Rohit Sharma was declared fit.
Why? Because the other opener was Rahul, who, despite having not done anything of note in the first Test, was the team's vice-captain and would not have been dropped.
It is a weird situation for Pant to find himself in, especially since his Test match performances remind him of his potential in all game formats.
And while it makes sense that Pant is given a longer rope than usual in white ball cricket, since the BCCI has been patient with him, it still makes no sense to shoehorn KL Rahul into the mix like this.
Time will tell how things play out, but if the past is any indication, such chaotic planning can only end in pain.