There was a time when Rishabh Pant was considered a near-indispensable all-format player, but he has gradually lost his place in India’s white-ball team, be it in T20Is or ODIs. India recently won the T20 World Cup without him. Given the way Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan performed, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain faces an uphill task of making inroads into the Indian T20 squad. 

Make-or-break time

Pant will require a stupendous IPL season with the bat to have even a remote chance of challenging the two, who hogged the limelight in the T20 World Cup triumph. He has been working hard in the nets and also visited the Ram temple in Ayodhya along with franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka on Saturday to seek divine blessings.