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As India trail 1-2 in the series and would be desperate to find the equaliser in Sydney, the visitors may take a massive step – replacing Pant with young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.
Dhruv Jurel may replace Rishabh Pant in Sydney Test
Rishabh Pant arrived in Australia as India’s new-age Test hero. His blitz from India’s previous tour of Australia are still fresh in the fans’ minds, and they expected nothing different from him this time. He did show glimpses of his flamboyance in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy but missed out on the bigger picture on all occasions.
In seven innings so far, Pant scored 154 runs, with 37, in the first innings in Perth, being his highest score. Poor shot selection has been his nemesis in the ongoing series, and the way he got out in the last two innings, legendary Sunil Gavaskar called it ‘ego’.
Pant could have made a difference in Melbourne, especially after batting patiently with Yashasvi Jaiswal in a wicketless second session on the final day of the Boxing Day Test. But then came a moment when he decided to punish part-time tweaker Travis Head, but it turned out to be a costly move, for him and the team as well.
As India trail 1-2 in the series and would be desperate to find the equaliser in Sydney, the visitors may take a massive step – replacing Pant with young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. The 23-year-old from Uttar Pradesh made his Test debut last year against England and cemented his place in the team with some impressive performances, overshadowing Andhra’s KS Bharat.
Though Rishabh Pant was inducted back into the team after his injury break, several media reports and social media trends say it’s high time that Pant gets benched.
Pant Needs To Understand…: Rohit Sharma
Following the 184-run loss at the MCG, Rohit was asked about Pant’s shot selection in the ongoing Test series. The Indian skipper responded, saying that the young keeper-batter needs to figure out the risk percentage in his game and must understand what is required from him.
“There hasn’t been any discussion about today. We are all disappointed. Pant needs to understand what is required from him. More than anyone else telling him. He himself needs to understand what is required,” Rohit told the reporters after the end of the fifth Test.
“As a captain, you know, it’s very hard to have a conversation when, you know, it has given him a lot of success as well. But it’s about him figuring out, you know, what is the right way to do things. It’s just about the situation as well,” he added.
- Location :
Sydney, Australia
