"His name is not certain for the Champions Trophy" - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's non-selection for IND vs ENG 2025 T20Is

Aakash Chopra has questioned Rishabh Pant's non-selection in India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against England. While acknowledging that Pant might have been rested after a strenuous Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, the former India batter pointed out that the wicketkeeper-batter is not a certainty in the Men in Blue's Champions Trophy squad or playing XI.

India will lock horns with England in a five-match T20I series, with the first game in Kolkata on January 22. While Pant has been ignored, Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel are the two wicketkeeper-batters picked in India's squad for the series.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wasn't convinced about the selectors' call to pick Jurel ahead of Pant.

"You picked Dhruv Jurel and didn't pick Rishabh Pant. That's an interesting one. It cannot happen that you are thinking Rishabh Pant is not capable of playing T20s, that he doesn't do well in white-ball cricket. Are we going to take that call so early in somebody's career?" he said (8:15).

"I feel Rishabh Pant is an asset. He is a generational talent. He is a player you should invest in. He might have been rested as he has come after playing a long series. However, his name is not certain for the Champions Trophy. Even if it is, it's not certain in the XI. So you could have kept him with the team," Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra acknowledged that both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, irrespective of whoever had been picked, would have had to sit out as Sanju Samson should be the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter. However, he added that it would have been nice if the selectors had provided some clarity on Pant's non-selection.

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"Temperament is absolutely outstanding" - Aakash Chopra on Dhruv Jurel

Dhruv Jurel hasn't yet represented India in white-ball cricket. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that he likes Dhruv Jurel, especially his temperament.

"I love the kid. How well he bats. Temperament is absolutely outstanding. We saw in Ranchi that the guy has the might. He was playing his first match and gave a Player of the Match performance. He played the first match of BGT (2024-25) and I am not going to go deeper into it because anyone can get out in one match," he said.

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that Jurel's selection is based more on potential and promise than performance.

"He scored runs in the side game he played before that. He has got a lot of potential and promise. However, when we see T20 cricket, the third 'P', which is performance, hasn't come yet. So you have picked him on total pure potential. He is a middle-order batter for sure but he is also going to warm the bench," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that Dhruv Jurel cannot be played in the XI as it would be doing an injustice to someone else. He also questioned whether Ishan Kishan could have been selected instead of Jurel as he could have been a backup opener apart from being the second keeper.