Rishabh Pant's poor run along with unreliability with gloves leads to his omission 

Talented youngster Rishabh Pant was not named in the playing XI for the first Test against South Africa that commences from October 2 at Visakhapatnam.

Weeks after chief selector MSK Prasad promised to give the 21-year old a longer rope in the national side, calling him the undisputed No.1 choice with the gloves, the team management instead called up Wriddhiman Saha, who last played a Test against South Africa in 2018.

After starting with a bang, Pant lost his way soon after in the national team, with his choice of shot selection earning brickbats from all around. After a below-par World Cup campaign where Pant managed just 116 runs, the pressure doubled on the Delhi lad, and the onus was on him to silence critics with a good showing in the subsequent series against West Indies and South Africa.

Though he did manage 65* in the third and final T20I against Windies, he was inconsistent in the first two games, throwing his wicket in crunch moments. In the following ODI and Test series, Pant’s returns were abysmal as well - he could not even get to 30 once.

With head coach Ravi Shastri lambasting Pant after the tour, claiming that he had led Team India down on occasions, the axe was hanging by his head. Needing to up his game against South Africa, Pant failed to replicate his IPL success, notching up scores of 4 and 19 in the T20I leg of the series against South Africa.

Backed by many to fill in the shoes of MS Dhoni, Pant has struggled to get going consistently. While many suggested that the youngster should be backed, Virat Kohli and Co. have taken the tough call of dropping him in favour of Saha for the first Test.

Saha and Pant Test performance to date

While Pant has played 11 games in his career thus far and has much better numbers than Saha, who has turned out in 32 matches in the longest format, the former's inexperience with both bat and gloves has often led to criticism.

There is no denying the fact that Saha remains India’s best bet with the gloves in Asia, where the odd balls will turn. The Bengal-based 'keeper has accounted for 85 dismissals, with 58 of those coming on the slow turners of Asia. Thus, despite average numbers with the bat, Saha was India’s go to keeper since Dhoni’s retirement. That is until a freak injury kept him away from the game.

Pant, on the other hand, has affected seven dismissals with the gloves in Asia, with two dismissals in an innings being his highest. Against pace, it is relatively easier to keep wickets, but on turning tracks, Pant would have been tested.

Giving away easy runs would have been the last that the Indian camp needed in what can turn out to be a gruelling series against the Proteas. This, along with his poor run with the bat, has ensured that Pant’s time with the national team has come to a premature end, at least temporarily.

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