Rishabh Pant dropped: Why Wriddhiman Saha’s selection for South Africa Tests makes sense
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee chief MSK Prasad had vowed to give Rishabh Pant a consistent run in the Indian team, making him the undisputed No. 1 choice behind the stumps after the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup. Things, however, turned out to be quite different. Just one and a half series into the post-World Cup phase, Pant has been dropped in favour of Wriddhiman Saha for the South Africa Tests.
The form factor:
Pant hasn’t had the best of run with the bat, be it during the all-format tour of West Indies or the T20Is against South Africa. The tour of Windies saw Pant hit the highest score of 65* in the third and final T20I against the hosts while the two T20Is he played against the Proteas only produced a best of 19 runs (in the Bengaluru encounter). In the ODIs and Tests, he couldn’t even cross the 30-run mark. Overall, the 21-year-old stumper’s tally of runs since the conclusion of the World Cup has been hugely disappointing.
Backed by many to fill in the huge void left by MS Dhoni, Pant has been under immense pressure to perform but hasn’t managed to come out of the puddle, having struggled to put big performances. Although opinions on his form have been divided – many suggesting that the youngster needs to be backed while others are asking for other options – the Indian team management has decided to take the big call of replacing him with Pant.
Why dropping Pant makes sense:
With the arrival of the World Test Championship, the way everyone sees Test cricket has changed. It isn’t just the series that is at stake but also the team’s position in the championship standings. There’s no doubting that Saha is a better wicket-keeper than Pant and can hence keep wickets for the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin better. Considered as the best Indian wicket-keeper at present, Saha’s wicket-keeping skills have been the core reason behind his place in the team before the injury phase a year ago.
It’s a different thing keeping wickets overseas where pacers dominate the proceedings but keeping wickets in the sub-continent is a different ball game altogether when it comes to the traditional format of the game. The assurance Saha offers, even on wickets which can be considered as ‘rank turners’, is something that Pant hasn’t got on his resume.
The presence of Ashwin and Jadeja, with Hanuma Vihari batting at No. 6, means that India will have depth in the batting department. This gives the team an opportunity to field Saha in the team without worrying whether he offers anything with the bat or not.
Although there’s no doubt that Pant remains one of the brightest wicket-keeping prospects for the future, this probably is the right time for him to take the back seat and refocus for the forthcoming assignments.
