New Delhi, October 26, 2020: Team India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant could miss out on a place in the national team due to weight issues. As per a report, the final call regarding his selection will be taken by the team management.
The selection committee headed by chief selector Sunil Joshi is set to name the squad for the Australia tour later today (October 26). The BCCI and Cricket Australia are yet to officially announce the fixtures but it is confirmed that India’s jumbo contingent will land in Australia next month. The series will start with white-ball fixtures before the two teams compete for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
During the selection meeting, all eyes will be on the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Hardik Pandya. Gill is in line to lose his spot in the ODI team while Shaw might just stay in the red-ball team. Pandya is playing IPL 2020 as a specialist batsman and he might not be recalled in the Test side.
As for Rishabh, he might miss out on selection altogether. As per The Times of India, he is dealing with ‘weight issues’ and that Team India’s fitness trainer had a talk with him. The report adds that he is overweight.
Maintaining desired fitness levels and clearing the yo-yo test are non-negotiable and there is a long list of players who have been dropped from the national team due to fitness issues in the past three years according to the reports published in timesnownews.com.
“The Indian team fitness trainer had shared his perspective on Pant some days ago and we believe he’s overweight. Regardless of what’s obvious on the field, the BCCI and the selectors will have to take the fitness report on Pant into consideration before they can pick him. The selectors need to speak to trainer Nick Webb before taking the call,” a source told TOI.
If selected, Rishabh isn’t expected to make it to the final XI at least in ODIs and T20Is. KL Rahul has been backed to do the wicketkeeping job in white-ball cricket. He played all eight white-ball matches in New Zealand while Rishabh sat out.
In the longest format, Rishabh has an edge over Wriddhiman Saha. Team India needs an additional batsman on foreign soil and Rishabh has proved his worth with the bat. With 350 runs in seven innings, Rishabh was India’s second-highest run-scorer the last time India toured Australia. He also scored a century in England in his debut Test series.
Senior pacers Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were injured during IPL 2020 and are unavailable for selection.
