Rishabh Pant is one Indian cricketer who has been talked about the most in the last one month. Earlier, it was about his performance as a captain in IPL 2022 where he failed to take Delhi Capitals to the playoffs for second successive time. Back then his DC coach Ricky Ponting had backed him. Some of the decisions that he took were called out by the DC fans over the internet. However Pant, despite such noise, seemed to have gain the backing of his franchise and he will continue to lead the franchise in the next edition. Then light again fell on Pant when he was announced as the captain of the Indian cricket team that was to face the full-strength South African side on home soil. Pant lost forst 2 games as captain but won the next two while the finl T20 ended up in a no result due to rain. All this while his form has been poor with the bat. However, this time too Rahul Dravid has backed him, saying that he remains an integral part of the team.
But the call to not have him as captain of the Indian cricket team is growing outside with former Indian cricketer Madan Lal joining the chorus. Speaking to Aaj Tak, Lal said that he would have stopped him from becoming captain if were a selector. He said that Pant needs maturity before he is given the big job of India captaincy.
"I would have stopped him from becoming captain. Wouldn't have allowed it. Because such a player needs to be given this responsibility later. Becoming an India captain is a big deal. He is a youngster. He isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The longer he plays, he will gain more maturity," said.
"Over the next two years, if he can take his game to the next level, then he can be a good captain, can deal with things maturely. This is a player of a different nature. MS Dhoni was a quiet and cool captain, which suited him as captain. Virat Kohli is a brilliant batter. I’m not saying Pant shouldn't be swinging his bat but if he can play with a little more maturity, it would be great," added Lal.
Pant will be next seen in the fifth and last Test vs England that starts on July 1 at Edgbaston. He is also expected to feature in the ODI and T20 leg on the England tour. With Dinesh Karthik playing so well, pressure has built on Pant to perform with bat who is having a difficult time scoring runs in international cricket.
