Former India opener Virender Sehwag recently raised a question regarding the team management’s move to not include Rishabh Pant as he thought that there is some miscommunication and this can affect the confidence of a player as well.
He also gave the example of former captain MS Dhoni who had said in 2012 that Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Gautam Gambhir were being rotated at the top of the order because Rohit Sharma required to be given an opportunity there. However, they were given the reason for being slow on the field.
During a talk show in Cricbuzz, he said, “Rishabh Pant has been left out how will he score runs? If you feel he is a match-winner, why don’t you play him? Because he is not consistent? During our time, the captain used to go and talk with the player (in question). Now I don’t know if Virat Kohli does the same or not. I am not part of the team setup. But people say that when Rohit Sharma went to Asia Cup as captain, he used to talk to all the players.”
Giving the example of MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag added, “When M.S. Dhoni said in Australia that top three are slow fielders, we were never asked or consulted. We got to know from the media. He said at the press conference but not at the team meeting that we are slow fielders. Talk at the team meeting was that we need to play Rohit Sharma who is new and that’s why there will be rotation policy. If the same is happening now, that’s wrong.”
Rishabh Pant recently dropped from the squad after suffering a concussion while playing the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai where he scored 28 runs. However, he could not play the second match in Rajkot but became fully fit for the series decider in Bengaluru. However, KL Rahul did the job and has been donning the wicketkeeping gloves. Surprisingly they didn’t include Pant after their series win by 3-0 on Friday in Wellington.
