Why India’s Bet on Rishabh Pant for the T20 World Cup Is Likely To Backfire

Pant appears to have been chosen primarily on the basis of his reputation. Because, based on his T20I statistics, he should be well down the pecking order. The 23-year-old has three half-centuries, but his overall numbers are well below average and should keep him off the team.
Pant has 934 runs at an average of 23.94 and a strike rate of 126.21 in 58 matches. While Pant has demonstrated maturity and consistency in Test cricket, he has yet to produce a notable performance in Twenty20 Internationals.
Pant has played 17 games in 2022, with an average of around 26 and a strike rate of less than 134. However, the combination of Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, and selectors have bet on Pant, and it is now up to the young wicket-keeper batter to disprove his critics and his previous record and deliver for the Men in Blue.Pant played in last year’s T20 World Cup, and when India was under pressure against Pakistan, he managed to stitch a 50-plus partnership with then-captain Virat Kohli, but threw away his wicket, allowing the opposition to regain control.
He made the same mistake in the 2019 50-over World Cup, and if India are to end their 15-year wait for a T20 World title, Pant must put his previous failures in the T20 format behind him and dominate bowlers as he does in other formats.