Five takeaways from India A-England Warm-up matches

India should take a punt on Pant

Perfect time to unleash Pant

The best time to play someone is when they are in form. And while Rishabh Pant may only be 19, it wouldn't be unfair to say that he is in the form of his life. It is true that India already have a keeper and plenty of competition for the opening slot in the T20I squad but if ever there was a need to take a punt it is now.

After all, Pant is coming off a first-class season in which he scored 972 runs in just 8 matches at an average of 81, including four centuries. If those numbers aren't incredible on their own, the fact that he scored those runs at a strike rate of 107 merely highlights the fact that Pant is seeing the cricket ball like a beach ball.

If that wasn't enough, his blitzkrieg in the second warm-up match against an almost full-strength England bowling line-up where he scored 59 off 36 balls at a strike rate of 163.8, came on the back of two club matches in which he tore the bowling apart. Playing in the DY Patil T20 Cup for Reliance 1, Pant scored a 14-ball 43 and a 34-ball 84 in his last two matches prior to the warm-up match in which the U-19 star showed he is ready to make the step up.