‘My retention wasn’t about money for sure’: Pant reveals ahead of IPL auction
India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has revealed that his release from Delhi Capitals squad ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction was not about the money.
Recent reports suggest that batting coach Vikram Rathour might have got tired answering questions on wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant at every other press conference.
Pant, who has been backed by the Indian team management as their first-choice wicketkeeper, has played 15 ODIs but has only managed 346 runs.
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Notably, he made 71 in the first ODI against West Indies in December 2019 and followed it up with a healthy came of 39 in Visakhapatnam.
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“Rishabh Pant, I think we have spoken a lot about him and every press-conference I do, I face a question about him. He’s a good player. Everybody agrees on that,” Rathour said on Sunday as quoted by PTI.
“He’s working hard on his fitness. He’s played some useful innings lately. So, lot of work. He’s practising hard, so hoping he comes good, becomes more consistent, Rathor added.
Rathour also heaped praises on Shardul Thakur for his contributions with the bat by suggesting that he is a really handy batsman lower down the order.
It is worth highlighting that Thakur produced a couple of match-winning cameos lately. While the first one came against the series-deciding match against West Indies, the other one came in the third T20I against Sri Lanka.
“It’s all his good work (and) I’m not doing anything. He’s somebody who can bat-all of us knew that. The last couple of games he got the opportunity to show what he can do. So he gives you a great option in late order,” said Rathour.
When quizzed if they will shuffle the number three batsmen in ODIs, like the team has done in T20Is in the recent past, Rathour stated, “We did that in T20s, because we were willing to give them some game time. So against Australia in the first game, well start with our best XI. And I think everyone will bat according to tried order. And as the series goes, well see if we can experiment and try something different”.
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