Why India should try Rishabh Pant as a backup opener in ODIs
The Indian team has achieved a lot of success in the ICC World Test Championship and recently, Virat Kohli’s side has dominated its rivals in the T20 format as well. India blanked Sri Lanka at home before whitewashing New Zealand away from home. This shows that the Men in Blue have adequate resources in both the formats. The fact that India registered these victories without their star all-rounder Hardik Pandya further solidifies the aforementioned claim.
When it comes to the ODIs; however, India have not managed to maintain the same consistency in the 50-overs format. During the last 12 months, Virat Kohli and Co. have played 26 ODIs of which they could only win 15 games. They have lost 10 matches while one match did not produce a result.
The problem with the Indian team has been their batting lineup. On March 2nd, 2019 India played an ODI against Australia at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. India’s batting unit comprised Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar in that match.
Almost 12 months later, India took field against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui with a batting lineup featuring Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Ravindra Jadeja. The second half of the batting lineup has even bettered in the last 12 months as the trio of Iyer, Rahul and Pandey have shown promise with the bat. Adding Hardik Pandya in the mix makes it a perfect middle order.
But the problem is India did not have a solid opening partnership in that series. Sharma and Dhawan will always be India’s top opening batsmen, and the disappointing performances of Shaw and Agarwal would tempt the selectors to think about a new option. While KL Rahul can do this job to perfection, Virat Kohli has hinted that he will continue to bat in the middle order. So, this rules Rahul out of the equation.
To begin well...
Shaw and Agarwal have immense talent, however, India needs a player who can provide them with fiery starts irrespective of the playing conditions. If India receives a 300+ target and in case Rohit and/or Shikhar do not play in that match, India will require a batsman who could give them an explosive start. In the same way, the Indian team management would love to have an opening batsman who could fire from ball one just like Martin Guptill and Jason Roy.
The Indian team can insert Rishabh Pant into this role. Now, the advantage of having Pant is a reserve opener is that he has played a lot of cricket at the number one or number two position. He was the opener for India U-19s and he aggregated 267 runs from 6 games in the 2016 U-19 World Cup. The upcoming star had a fantastic strike rate of 104.30 in the tournament, while he had an average of 44.50.
As he has not opened an inning for India thus far, we will have a look at his numbers in the domestic arena. He opened the innings for Delhi in the 2017-18 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Pant hit a 33-ball 58 in that match to help Delhi win their tournament opener against Tamil Nadu. He registered another fifty against Uttar Pradesh during the same competition. Pant went after the bowlers in the power-play overs and since he is a big hitter, he did not find it difficult to score runs quickly during the fielding restrictions.
With his performances in the middle order during the series against West Indies, Pant showed that he has the temperament to play a big innings. Also, the stacked Indian middle order has no space for Pant currently. He has never received an opportunity to bat at the top for India, and because the 2023 World Cup is still three years away, India should try him as an opener.
The team management would not want to alter the opening combination in Tests because of the overseas tours while the consistency of KL Rahul leaves no room for yet another back-up option in T20I cricket. Hence, the 50-overs format is the one where India can give Pant a chance to prove himself. A lot of experts like Shane Warne and Virender Sehwag have backed him to do well, and as he has been doing it since his U-19 days, he should get an opportunity soon.