‘He’s not fitted into any role’ – Ajay Jadeja’s take on Rishabh Pant’s underwhelming T20I returns

Rishabh Pant has made limited appearances for Team India in the shortest format. While he has grown in stature in Tests and scored his maiden ODI ton during the England tour in June-July, the left-hander hasn’t been able to have much success in T20Is.

During the Australia home T20Is, Pant featured in the playing XI only during the second and penultimate match. In the just-concluded South Africa series, the 25-year-old got a chance as India rested Hardik Pandya. After not getting an opportunity to bat in the first two T20Is versus the Proteas, Pant opened the innings for India during the final encounter in Indore on Tuesday evening (October 04). In India’s pursuit of 228, the left-hander departed for a 14-ball 27 and failed to make a big score.

After another missed opportunity by Pant, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja revealed the reason behind the youngster’s T20I struggles. He said during a discussion on Cricbuzz, “Because the Indian team has moved on to role-playing acts, and he’s not fitted into any role, that’s where he has lost out. DK played a fabulous knock. With that role-play that he is doing, it works. If he wasn’t in that role-play business and was batting at No. 4 like in the early part of his career, then, 46 on this surface, how can you throw it away?”

“He’s got a mate in DK to learn from. He can ask him, ‘listen, what do I need to do? Is there something I am missing out on? You’ve gone through this. Show me the way.’ No matter how big a fan I am, how long will you persist with him? There is no dearth of talent, and it is just this format. So, it is something that he has to figure out,” Jadeja pointed out.

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“He doesn’t have to go too far, he just has to look at his batting partner. It’s taken Karthik 15 years for the team to start believing and accepting. DK had similar talent. The team kept bringing him back. But if you don’t deliver, the team leaves you out eventually, somewhere,” added Pant.

Pant-starrer India will now travel to Australia for the 2022 T20 World Cup. After playing two warm-up games, India will play their tournament-opener versus arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG, Melbourne. The left-hander will hope to make the most of the opportunities presented during the mega event Down Under.