In a move that helped raise quite a few eyebrows, India got wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to open the innings along with captain Rohit Sharma in the 2nd ODI against the West Indies in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 9. Pant walked out to bat with his skipper after the West Indies won the toss and oped to bowl in their must-win game of the 3-match series.
It was a surprising move from the Indian team management as they had dropped Ishan Kishan from the XI and brought back KL Rahul, their vice-captain, who missed out on the 1st ODI due to personal reasons. With Shikhar Dhawan still not available for selection after recovering from Covid-19, Pant was asked to open the batting for India for the first time in ODIs.
The move did not work as planned as Pant threw his wicket away for 18 after batting out 34 deliveries in the middle. Pant went for a pull shot against Odean Smith, who replaced Kieron Pollard, in the 12th over and was caught at fine leg.
However, batting great Sunl Gavaskar believes that it’s an experiment that India are making and if it works, they might as well carry forward the template into next year’s World Cup which will be played in India.
“The first 10 overs is where India have been a bit slow in the past. They are looking to take advantage of the field restrictions in the first 10 overs. They are clearly looking to score maybe 60-70. That is what they are looking for. This is an experiment, make no mistake. If it works, that is the template that they will like to carry forward as they go on to the World Cup in India next year.” Gavaskar, who was on-air during the 2nd ODI, told Star Sports.
Meanwhile, Gavaskar also said the move is a way of the team management telling Pant that they expect more run on a consistent manner from him at the top of the order.
“It may also mean they (the team management) is looking to give him a sense of responsibility at the top of the order. We have seen him charge down the pitch and get out in the past. Sending him up the order is a way of maybe telling him, ‘listen we expect more runs from you’. We will find out how it all pans out,” Gavaskar said.
