Rishabh Pant is out of India’s white-ball squads for around two years now. The wicketkeeper-batter, who was touted as the next big thing in the role after the retirement of MS Dhoni, has struggled to make a comeback in India’s ODI and T20I squads. Additionally, Pant has lost his position of vice-captain in Test cricket to KL Rahul. As the player continues to go through a lean patch, the chances of his inclusion in the Indian team for the ODI World Cup 2027 are very low.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has advised Pant to take inspiration from Ishan Kishan. The Jharkhand-born player made a comeback to the national white-ball team after staying out for more than two years, following an impressive domestic performance.
Kishan led Jharkhand to their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title last year and followed it up with an impressive Indian Premier League 2026 season.
In the India squad against Afghanistan, starting June 13, Rahul and Kishan have been picked as wicketkeeper-batters.
“KL Rahul is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs. He has done well at numbers five and six. He is versatile,” Pathan told JioStar.
“As a backup, the selectors have brought in Ishan Kishan. Ishan can bat higher up the order and plays the short ball well square of the wicket. That is a smart selection. So, Rahul and Ishan are the two wicketkeeper-batters right now. The third in line should be Sanju Samson. Whenever he has got a chance, he has delivered. We saw that in the T20 World Cup,” he added.
While advising Pant to follow the path of Kishan, Pathan told the selectors not to ignore the former.
“Now, about Rishabh Pant, my suggestion to the selectors is not to completely ignore him. Yes, he has fallen behind in white-ball cricket. His form has not been great. But look at Ishan Kishan. He was out of the team too, but he used that as motivation. He played domestic cricket, performed well, and led Jharkhand to a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win as captain. Rishabh should take inspiration from Ishan and keep working hard. He should not lose hope of making a comeback in white-ball cricket,” Pathan concluded.
