Cricket News: The confusion over Rishabh Pant's status and another case of opaque communication by the BCCI

So you can understand the confusion when neither made the playing XI, and KL Rahul was instead chosen to keep wickets – something he hasn't done since 2021. 

It didn't help that there needed to be absolute clarity as to why he was missing. The BCCI put out a statement saying Pant was released 'in consultation with the BCCI medical team', implying it was an injury-related issue. 

However, KL himself added to the confusion when he admitted after the first ODI that he did not know the reason for Pant's sudden exclusion from the squad. 

"I'm not very aware, to be honest. I just found out in the dressing room that he was being released; I don't know why," he said.

"Maybe the medical team will be in a better position to answer that question."

This led to speculation that either Pant was involved in a disciplinary breach of sorts or that he had contracted Covid-19. 

But now news reports are doing the rounds that Pant requested to be released from the ODI series. 

The wicketkeeper spoke to coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma when he arrived from New Zealand to Dhaka. 

He even spent a day in the city and participated in the nets before asking for his release from the ODI squad. 

So, which of these is the actual story? We may never know, not until one of the involved parties comes out and clearly says what transpired behind closed doors. 

But the issue again shines a bright spotlight on an area in which, for the longest time now, the Indian board has been lacking – communication with the media and general public. 

It's not unusual for multiple stories on the same issue to be floating around; it is almost the norm with the BCCI since most stories only make it to news outlets via anonymous sources. 

The board's communication is limited to big announcements, change of roles and the revealing of squads for a special tour. 

It is telling that, even within that limited capacity of open communication, there can and will be issues about the manner or time in which it is put out. 

The funny part about it all is that it could have been so easily avoided if the BCCI said that Pant requested his release due to personal reasons or disclosed why they chose to give him leave despite selecting him for the tour. 

Yet what they did had the opposite effect, especially since it led to speculation and more reports floating around, making it an uncomfortable situation for the board to deal with. 

Again, we may never know the actual story behind all of this. But we can be sure that this will be the first time such a confusing situation crops up too.