Rishabh Pant remains key in Tests but ODI future uncertain, says Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra believes Indian selectors have made up their mind about Rishabh Pant’s immediate white-ball future after his omission from the ODI squad against West Indies. Pant, however, has been named captain of the Rest of India side for the Irani Cup

New Delhi: Aakash Chopra believes the Indian selectors have made up their mind about Rishabh Pant’s immediate future in white-ball cricket, with the wicketkeeper-batter left out of the ODI squad for the upcoming West Indies series despite being named captain of the Rest of India side for the Irani Cup.

Speaking ahead of the three-match series, Chopra pointed to the contrasting roles handed to Pant across formats, saying India continue to see him as an important player in Test cricket, while his position in the ODI setup appears to have changed.

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“Rishabh Pant is a very strange and very unique case. While he is playing Test cricket and is a very important member of the red-ball side, he was stripped of his vice-captaincy duties there as well. But in ODI cricket, without playing, he’s been bid goodbye,” Chopra told Jio Star.

“At the same time, he has been made the captain of the Rest of India (ROI), which also tells you that, with respect to red-ball cricket, they are very serious about Rishabh playing a huge role in the longer format. But for white-ball cricket, as of now, I think this selection committee has made up its mind,” he added.

Pant, who was never a permanent member of the 50-over squad, has played just one ODI in the past four years. He was also left out of the T20I team after India’s 2024 T20 World Cup victory.

Pant’s omission from the ODI squad comes as India begin their preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Shubman Gill will lead the side against the West Indies, while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have also been included in the 15-member squad.

Dhruv Jurel is among the wicketkeeping options in the ODI side, while KL Rahul has been appointed vice-captain in place of Shreyas Iyer, who will be part of India’s Asian Games campaign.

Chopra also highlighted the competition for places in India’s wider ODI group as the team looks to build depth ahead of the World Cup.

“You have to think about who you can take along as reserves for the World Cup. So, there will be a toss-up here between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who are both part of this team, and whenever they’ve played, they’ve scored a lot of runs. So, I’m looking at an opportunity opening up for one of these two,” Chopra said.

“Auqib Nabi has been travelling with the team for some time now but isn’t getting a chance to play in the XI. If he gets his opportunity, I’ll be quite excited to see him perform,” he added.

The three-match ODI series against the West Indies begins in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27, followed by matches in Guwahati on September 30 and New Chandigarh on October 3.