A recent viral video doing the rounds of social media showed two Indian wicket-keeper batsmen—one a bona fide legend and another a young man, who according to many, has more of the X-factor than anyone else in international cricket in recent times—singing uninhibitedly at a wedding. The two men might be in the same video frame, but their cricketing fates have been starkly different. While MS Dhoni is someone every cricketer in the world respects and had almost a cult following by the time he was 27, Rishabh Pant, at the same age, stands at a crossroads in his ODI and T20i career. Ask anyone what the future might hold for Pant in the shorter versions of the game, and no expert will be able to give you a definitive answer, because the simple truth is, no one knows.
Watching From The Dressing Room
Here's what we do know though—KL Rahul has been anointed as India's first-choice keeper. Pant was part of India's squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, but didn't play a single match. Rahul was given the opportunity to cement his place in the ODI team and though he batted low down at number 6, it was impressive to see him grab the chances he got with both hands, gobble them up, wipe his mouth and say thank you, very much. KL's batting average in the tournament was the highest across all teams at 140, thanks largely to the fact that he remained unbeaten in three of his four innings. This was incidentally the highest average ever at a Champions Trophy and broke an eight-year-old record previously held by Virat Kohli (129 in 2017). While KL and Ravindra Jadeja took Team India across the finish line in the summit clash and to the trophy, Pant watched from the dressing room. At the conclusion of the tournament, India had played eight ODIs without the left-hander in the playing XI. His last ODI appearance was in August last year against Sri Lanka in Colombo—in a match that India lost by 110 runs, marking the first time India had lost a bilateral ODI series against the Lankans in 27 years. Pant's stay at the crease was all of nine deliveries long, falling for six after charging down the track and being stumped after failing to read an off-break by Maheesh Theekshana.
Testing Ground
After the gruelling two-month-plus IPL season, India will play ODIs again in August-September this year, when they tour Bangladesh for a three-match series. Will Pant be part of that squad? Maybe, if the team management feels they need to give him a chance to show if he can be better and more consistent than KL in this format. A series against Bangladesh could well be used as testing ground. But for that to happen, Pant, despite his batting charms, needs to be firmly in the consciousness of the powers that be. It's obvious that he needs to have a good IPL outing this time. Interestingly, the last IPL season saw him average almost 41—his second highest average in the tournament, since his debut season in 2016. He needs to up the ante with the bat even more in the upcoming season.
But it might not be an easy thing to do. After all, so much has changed. He is no longer with Delhi Capitals, the only IPL team he played for before becoming the new Lucknow Supergiants captain. That means Pant will also have a ton of leadership responsibilities on his shoulders. And don't forget the price tag that will follow him around everywhere he goes—Rs 27 Crore, the most amount of money ever bid for a cricketer at an auction in the history of the IPL. Suffice it to say that there will be some pressure. His bat needs to do a lot of talking, and some feel he should make the most of being captain and push himself right up the order and open, giving himself the full 20-over quota to try and dominate the bowlers like never before.
'Where I Could Find Some Freedom'
Coincidentally, Pant took over the captaincy duties of LSG from the man he is in direct competition with for a spot in India's ODI team: KL Rahul, who knows that he also needs to have a stellar IPL season with the willow. It wasn't surprising to read reports that KL Rahul had turned down an offer to become the new Delhi Capitals captain, with Axar Patel being handed the reins of the team instead. After the traumatic experience he had last season at LSG, it was understandable to hear Rahul say that he wants “…to go and play where I could find some freedom”. At the Delhi camp, Rahul should be able to find that, especially since he will be playing as just a keeper-batter and not a skipper.
Another thing that is keeping Rahul above Pant in the overall pecking order is the difference in temperament and batting execution. While Pant is still seen as a maverick, who can both win you an unwinnable game and also play an absolutely unnecessary shot to throw away his wicket, KL has moulded himself into a calming influence in the middle and knows how to play the sheet-anchor role, before switching gears to shape-shift into a more aggressive avatar. We saw a glimpse of this in the Champions Trophy semi-final vs Australia, where he scored 42 off 34, coming in at number 6, when the equation read 87 needed off 90. He finished the game off with a six-over long-on, his face still wearing that stoic look. In the final with New Zealand, though he admitted later to feeling the pressure, he didn't show any signs of it on the field.
What works for Pant though is the fact that he is considered to be the more technically-sound keeper and can also bat at a much faster tempo than KL. No wonder the latter was recently quoted as saying, “There is [competition with Pant], I won't lie.”
KL Rahul Has A Clearer Path
But for now, KL's path is clear and, perhaps, a simpler one, while Pant finds himself riddled with doubts. Can he break into India's ODI team? It will be a while before India play ODIs again, though the team management would have given themselves a cut-off date, by which time they would want to finalise the squad complexion for the 2027 ODI World Cup—a tournament India will have more than a point to prove in, after losing the final of the last edition at home in heartbreaking fashion.
That leaves the T20i format, and there, too, Pant will have to face stiff competition. But here, Sanju Samson has left the door ajar. Though Samson has already been backed by India's T20i captain, Suryakumar Yadav, as the first-choice keeper-batter and smashed two centuries against the Proteas to march into the squad for the England T20i series at home in January-February, he had a well-below par outing in that five-match series, finishing with 51 runs in five innings, at an average of under 11, as an opener. This IPL could, in other words, be a shoot-out between Pant and Samson—one a sound attacking batter and another who can destroy any bowling attack with shots you won't find in any coaching manual. And both, in many ways, are still struggling to cement their places in the national teams. The IPL has always been a career-maker and Pant knows, better than anybody else, just how important this season is to keep that bigger dream alive. He was recently quoted as saying, “My only dream was to play for India, IPL was secondary.”
Every time you see Pant flash his trademark 1000-watt smile, one does feel for him. If it wasn't for that near-fatal car accident in 2022, things might have been very different for him. He was an all-format player prior to the crash that almost killed him and left him with a torn ligament in his right knee, a fractured wrist and ankle and multiple cuts on his head, along with, of course, severe mental trauma. Many thought his career was over. The void that was created was filled by players who were itching for a chance to prove themselves. A remarkable comeback in IPL 2024, after 15 months on the sidelines post the accident, spoke volumes of Pant's mental grit. But while his place in India's Test team has not really been under threat since Wriddhiman Saha hung up his boots, his limited-overs future is still very much up in the air. Many experts feel Pant needs to curb his natural attacking instincts and mature into a more dependable batter. Others feel a player like him should never be asked to go against his grain.
Which Rishabh Pant will we see in IPL 2025?
(The author is a former sports editor and primetime sports news anchor. He is currently a columnist, features writer and stage actor)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
