‘Rishabh Pant is not a certainty in the Indian T20I team’ – Wasim Jaffer

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has opened up on the wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant's T20I form, which has been under the scanner. 

Jaffer claims that the 24-year-old has failed to replicate his success in red-ball cricket in the shortest format of the game. 

Pant had a decent IPL 2022 campaign with Delhi Capitals where the left-hander scored 340 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 151.78. However, it has been Rishabh Pant's T20I form that has been a major concern for the team India going forward.

The 24-year-old has scored just 40 runs in three games in the ongoing series against South Africa with 29 being his highest score from the first T20I in Delhi. Furthermore, he has been throwing his wicket away on several occasions as South African bowlers have managed to keep him on his toes. 

Jaffer, in a recent conversation with ESPNCricinfo, stated that with the return of KL Rahul, who can don the keeping gloves and with Dinesh Karthik also in the equation, Rishabh Pant's T20I position could be under threat. 

"You've got KL Rahul. Once he comes back, he walks into the side. He's a wicketkeeper as well. If Dinesh Karthik is certain to play, then again, he is also a wicketkeeper. So, I am not too sure. The way Rishabh Pant has played recently, I won't call him a certainty," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.

Pant was named the stand-in captain of team India after KL Rahul, who was initially appointed as the skipper, was ruled out of the 5-Match T20I series against South Africa due to a groin injury that he suffered on the eve of the series opener. 

Under Pant’s leadership, India has suffered two back-to-back defeats in the first two matches before they bounced back strongly to outclass the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa side in the 3rd T20I to keep the series alive. 

"I think he still needs to score runs and score them pretty consistently. He hasn't done that in the IPL. He hasn't done it in many T20Is."

"I've said that many times - the way he has played in Test cricket, the way he has played in quite a few ODI innings as well, he hasn't done that in T20Is. So, I won't say that Rishabh Pant is a certainty for me (in T20Is) going forward," he added.  

Pant has been a consistent run-scorer in Tests but has failed to establish himself as a T20 batter, having 

amassed just 723 runs in 46 T20Is at an average of just 23 and a strike rate of 125.95. 

With the likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and non-wicket-keeping option Deepak Hooda waiting in the wings, and the T20 World Cup approaching, Rishabh Pant could find himself out of the picture at any time from the shortest format of the game, if he doesn't start scoring runs soon.