Ex-England seamer Stuart Broad advocates for Delhi Capitals’ captain Rishabh Pant’s inclusion in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad, highlighting his return to competitive cricket in IPL 2024 after a 15-month absence due to injuries from a car crash in December 2022.
Broad highlighted the southpaw’s excellent form for Delhi and indicated his readiness for a return to the Indian team. Speaking to Star Sports, here’s what Broad said about Rishabh Pant’s 2024 T20 World Cup prospects:
“The selection for the Indian team is up in the air a little bit. You have some players pending in that team. Rishabh Pant’s probably the one on whom there’s a lot of discussion about.”
“There was a shot I saw him play against KKR, a no-look flick over deep square leg for six. The moment he played that shot, I thought, he has got to be in that T20 World Cup squad. He’s ready. He’s good to go.”
Although Rishabh Pant appeared out of form in the initial matches for Delhi, he has significantly improved his performance since then. With two half-centuries in seven games, the left-hander has become the top run-scorer for Delhi, accumulating 210 runs at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 156.71.
The 26-year-old has also excelled in wicketkeeping duties. His agile glovework resulted in three crucial breakthroughs for Delhi during their match against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Wednesday. Pant took a superb one-handed diving catch and executed two outstanding stumpings.
“I’d like to see him be an Impact Sub in a couple of games” – Stuart Broad views on Rishabh Pant’s workload
Stuart Broad also stressed the significance of handling Rishabh Pant’s workload leading up to the 2024 T20 World Cup. He highlighted Pant’s multiple responsibilities of captaincy, wicketkeeping, and batting in the top order for his franchise.
Proposing that DC should contemplate utilizing Pant as an impact substitute in certain matches, Broad added:
“He has taken a huge amount on; he’s been out of the game for such a long period. He’s captain, he’s wicketkeeper, he’s batting 3, 4, 5. There’s a huge amount on his plate already.”
“I’d like to see him be an Impact Sub in a couple of games, taking a bit of the workload off his shoulders. He’s a match-winner, so I think if I was the selector, he’d be my wicketkeeper in the World Cup squad.”
In addition to Rishabh Pant, the primary contenders for the wicketkeeper-batsman role in India’s T20 World Cup squad comprise Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Sanju Samson.
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