"I would be putting him there right now" - Brad Hogg wants Rishabh Pant in Team India's white-ball squads
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg believes Rishabh Pant must be added to Team India's white-ball squads for the upcoming home series against England.
The 23-year-old didn't have a great last 12 months in limited overs cricket, and was imminently replaced by KL Rahul as India's first-choice wicket-keeper. Rishabh Pant also had a poor IPL 2020 campaign and was dropped from Team India's white-ball squads for the tour to Australia.
However, Pant proved why he is a valuable asset to the Indian team by becoming the visitors' leading run-scorer in the Test series. The youngster played a blistering knock of 97 runs to help Team India draw the Sydney Test. His unbeaten 89 ended Australia's 32-year dominance at the Gabba and sealed the series in India's favour.
In a video on his YouTube Channel, Brad Hogg explained how crucial Rishabh Pant is to the Indian side and why he needs to be backed in all three formats.
"I would be putting him (Rishabh Pant) there (India's white-ball squads) right now, because he has got the confidence, the belief and he has just proven himself by two match-winning knocks in this Test series. You can't get better than that playing for India on Australian soil. So get him in there," Brad Hogg said.
Brad Hogg names the players Rishabh Pant could replace in Team India's white-ball squads
The likes of Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson didn't have the best of outings in the limited overs leg Down Under. Iyer's form has dipped incredibly and that has again brought the controversial No.4 spot in ODIs under the scanner.
Brad Hogg believes Rishabh Pant could replace Iyer in the Indian ODI team and provide the X-factor to the middle-order. The 49-year-old went on to add that the southpaw could play in place of Samson, who didn't make the most of his chances, in T20Is.
"If you look at the previous team, I would put him in the ODI team in place of Iyer, keep your all-round options down there. Then you have got batting as well has bowling depth. And in the T20Is, he has got to be in there in place of Iyer or Sanju Samson. He can win a game off his own bat and he is very hard to bowl to," Brad Hogg asserted.
Rishabh Pant's heroics in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy proved that if backed properly, he can be a genuine match-winner for Team India, be it any format.