CHENNAI: About 18 months back, this was not even supposed to be a two-horse race for the wicketkeeper's slot. It was almost clear that India had moved on from MS Dhoni. There was Rishabh Pant, a successor to the legend in the long run. That’s when things started going wrong for the youngster.
Pant went to last year’s World Cup alright, but as a batsman, as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan. After that, it started getting worse. As a result, Pant's A-game went missing. He lost his Test spot to Wriddhiman Saha at home last year and earned it back in New Zealand. But those two Tests hardly helped his cause. What happened in the shorter formats did not make it better either as KL Rahul superseded him as batsman-keeper.
And here we are, in the middle of IPL. If India were to pick the squad for the T20 World Cup now, it would be impossible to not look beyond Rahul as first choice. If we are looking at back-ups, Pant is facing serious competition from Sanju Samson. Not far behind is Ishan Kishan, who apart from being a regular in the India A set-up, will quickly move up the order if he continues to score. It isn't a straight-forward call anymore.
"The retirement of Dhoni should have inspired Pant to own the keeper's slot and do much better," said MSK Prasad, who was the chairman of selectors till March.
"With regards to T20 and ODIs, this IPL has seen some wonderful performances from Samson and Ishan which opens the door for quadrilateral competition considering that Rahul and Pant are already there. We backed Pant but since he didn't keep well, it opened the doors for Rahul who grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He has been consistent with the gloves and bat and that makes him first choice in T20s and ODIs. In whatever opportunities he has got, Rahul hasn't done anything wrong. Be it for Karnataka, India or Kings XI Punjab, he looks calm and composed behind the stumps. The other three have to raise the bar to compete with him," said Prasad, a former wicketkeeper himself.
Of late, India seem to have changed their approach towards T20s. Instead of early cautiousness, there is an attempt to go for it from the beginning. While Rahul's performance with the gloves opens up another slot, it might affect his game. With a year to go for the next T20 World Cup, there is scope to try out a few other than Pant before taking a decision.
"The fight is between the other three and Rahul. Of course, nobody can deny the talent of Pant, but he should aim for consistency with bat and gloves. Now Sanju and Ishan join the race. The most important thing is, their bating might be able to give them recognition, but it is their wickeetkeeping skills that will keep them in the team for long. So all three need to realise that they have to focus on keeping skills," Prasad added.
Prasad and the selection committee deserve praise for grooming these contenders to find a successor for Dhoni. Pant, Samson and Ishan have considerable amounts of India A matches behind them, at home and aboard. They have been rotated consistently and though Pant moved up the pecking order, Samon is catching up.
"We groomed them and it is coming to the fore now. That was our duty and the idea was always to develop bench strength in each department. And it is showing. It is always good to have a healthy headache," Prasad said.