Time to move on from dual role: Rishabh Pant's future in Test ahead as a pure batter

Rishabh Pant [Source: AFP Photos]

Rishabh Pant made a successful recovery from his latest injury as he led the India-A team from the front to win the first unofficial Test against South Africa-A. After conceding a big lead in the first innings, Pant scored 90 during a 275-run chase in the fourth innings to help his team record a tight 3-wicket victory.

Pant’s latest injury came during the Old Trafford Test against England in July this year as while playing an innovative shot he broke his leg. Although he made a heroic effort to bat with broken leg in the second innings of the Test match, the injury made him sit out the rest of the England tour and the home Test matches against West Indies.

Pant's history of injuries over last few years

For Indian team, the absence of Rishabh Pant is always a blow as they miss his aggressive and unmatched batting style. In case of wicket keeping, although Pant is also quite tidy behind the stumps, India have enough options in the pipeline to get the service. Since 2024, Dhruv Jurel has performed perfectly during Pant’s absence in both role- in front and behind the wickets. Jurel even notched up his first Test century against West Indies at Ahmedabad last month.

Pant has a history of injuries over last few years including the fatal car accident in December 2022 which resulted in severe injuries, including a ruptured right knee with damage to all three major ligaments, dislocated knee and right ankle as well as extensive scrapes and abrasions. He bravely recovered from this and made his return to cricket during the 2024 IPL and was part of the T20 World Cup winning campaign in Caribbean. However, Pant had been already dealing with of multiple injuries since 2018 and missed matches in patches prior to the accident which kept him out for more than a year. Pant also fractured his leg against England during the 2024 home series which resulted in Jurel making his Test debut.

Dual role dilemma of Rishabh Pant

This raises the question whether it will serve Indian cricket better if Pant plays as a pure batter in Test cricket. This will ensure much less pressure on his body as wicket keeping in a Test match is one of the most taxing jobs in the sport, especially with Pant generally batting at number five which means less recovery time before batting.

Indian team is comfortable with playing five bowling options in Test cricket nowadays which makes six batting positions available including a wicket-keeper at the top. The two openers and captain Shubman Gill pretty much select themselves. Although Sai Sudharsan is yet to fully cement his spot at number three, with Pant and Jurel as number five and six, India can have a stable middle order. Obviously, this will mean that opportunity will be limited for other middle order options like Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal. But fortunately, with Jurel maintaining a Test average of nearly 48 it will not be the case that India will have to sacrifice the batting quality by playing both Pant and Jurel.

Focus on Pant purely as a batter

On the other hand, Pant has proved to be one of the best Test bats for India in recent years. Someone with 8 Test hundreds and seven 90+scores with 44.50 Test batting average can be easily considered as a pure batter. His magical innings like that unbeaten 89 at the Gabba as well as hundreds at Sydney, Leeds, The Oval and Cape Town are testament to his stamina and grit required for Test cricket.

Pant and Jurel in fact played one Test match together last year against Australia at Perth and although Pant handled the keeping gloves in that match, the smart way to go forward would be to do the opposite and keep Pant free from injury as much as possible.

Rishabh Pant is a phenomenal player and a true match winner for India in Test matches, which he has already shown in multiple instances. It will be for the interest of Indian cricket only for team management and selectors to assess the best way to extend his career and get his service injury-free; and if taking the wicket keeping responsibility off his shoulder helps that there should be no reason not to do that!

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