Out-of-luck Rishabh Pant racing against time: Will he live to fight another day after a series of failures?
The last few months have been nightmarish for Rishabh Pant, and now things have come to a head.
There was a time when Rishabh Pant was an all-format international player, but in less than two years, he has become a one-format player, and if things continue to go badly for him, he may not be an international cricketer anymore. That might be sooner rather than later.
India play Afghanistan in the one-off Test at New Chandigarh from Saturday, and Pant is all set to resume his wicketkeeping duties. He has been India's Test wicketkeeper for some time now, but presently the wind of change is blowing, and if he doesn't do well in the upcoming game, the clamour against him will pick up like never before.
Pant's case is quite curious. He made his name as a T20 batter for Indian Premier League side Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). But he lost steam soon. In fact, it was quite brave on the team's management part that despite a prolonged inconsistency, they kept faith in him and continued with him. Anyway, they lost patience with him during India's tour of Sri Lanka in 2024.
Then, at one point, he started rising as an ODI player and scored a fantastic century in England, but the same thing happened with him in that format, too. Of course, his horrendous accident in December 2022 that kept him out of international cricket for 15 months also played a role, especially in the early culmination of his ODI career – we don't know what happens tomorrow but at the moment it appears so.
{{/usCountry}}Then, at one point, he started rising as an ODI player and scored a fantastic century in England, but the same thing happened with him in that format, too. Of course, his horrendous accident in December 2022 that kept him out of international cricket for 15 months also played a role, especially in the early culmination of his ODI career – we don't know what happens tomorrow but at the moment it appears so.
{{/usCountry}}Now all he has got left is Test cricket. And things have not been exactly great in that format, either. His high-risk shots have brought him a lot of criticism. He failed in Australia in 2024-25, and Sunil Gavaskar famously described his playing a high-risk shot as “stupid, stupid, stupid” after it didn't come good. Last year, he captained in Tests at home against South Africa after regular skipper Shubman Gill was ruled out partway through the first game on account of injury, and things got from bad to worse for Pant. He failed with the bat, and then India lost both games — rather badly — making things very unpleasant for him.
{{/usCountry}}Now all he has got left is Test cricket. And things have not been exactly great in that format, either. His high-risk shots have brought him a lot of criticism. He failed in Australia in 2024-25, and Sunil Gavaskar famously described his playing a high-risk shot as “stupid, stupid, stupid” after it didn't come good. Last year, he captained in Tests at home against South Africa after regular skipper Shubman Gill was ruled out partway through the first game on account of injury, and things got from bad to worse for Pant. He failed with the bat, and then India lost both games — rather badly — making things very unpleasant for him.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian Premier League has not helped him either. In the last two seasons, he captained Lucknow Super Giants, and he failed with the bat for a large part. He also failed to inspire his team. In 2025, LSG, under him, finished 7th, and in 2026, the team finished last, which led to his stepping down from the role. His relationship with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka didn't look great at any point, even though the latter claimed otherwise.
So, a storm is building up against Pant. The Afghanistan Test could very well be his last game unless he does something out of the ordinary. If he fails, Gautam Gambhir might want to try out Dhruv Jurel in the future Test assignments. There could be an analogy with the current situation of Suryakumar Yadav. In March, he won the T20 World Cup as India captain, and in a group-stage game against the United States, his innings saved India’s blushes. But, if truth be told, his batting had been deteriorating over the last couple of years.
Like Pant, Suryakumar also had a bad 2026 IPL for Mumbai Indians, and now there are reports that the BCCI is planning to do away with him as captain as well as a player.
The good thing is Pant knows where he stands and what all he needs to do to ensure his international career doesn't completely come to a halt. A big innings and good wicketkeeping, tinged with a couple of high-quality catches, can provide him with a new lease of life.
