'It is too early to decide' – Saba Karim on Rishabh Pant being India's future captain

Rishabh Pant’s phenomenal rise in the past three months has made him the talk of the town not only in India but across other countries too. The dashing wicketkeeper-batter has turned a corner like no other and has currently become one of the regular choice wicketkeeper-batter for India in all the formats.

Recently, the maverick batter was named the skipper of the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 after regular skipper, Shreyas Iyer, was ruled out due to injury.

Pant showed his class by leading the Capitals ably by using Avesh Khan well in powerplay and death overs. He also took additional responsibility by anchoring the innings and was there right till the end in the run-chases. Impressed by his captaincy and batting, Salman Butt lavished praise on him saying he can be the future leader for team India.

Saba Karim, though, feels that it is too early a call to make if Pant can captain India once Virat Kohli steps down. However, he applauded Pant’s captaincy style during a discussion on India News.

“I feel it is too early to decide if Rishabh Pant can captain India in the future or not. He has the potential, the way he bats, he captains almost in a similar manner. He has a different style, which makes you happy seeing that,” said Karim.

Saba Karim’s take on Pant’s captaincy and form

The former India wicketkeeper also stated that Pant was calm and composed during his captaincy stint with Capitals just like his idol MS Dhoni.

“He has a refreshing attitude towards the game, he wants all the players playing with him to enjoy. I see a lot of signs of MS Dhoni’s captaincy in him, both in his attitude and his decision-making. He is an instinctive captain,” observed Karim.

Karim concluded by saying that Pant needs to focus on continuing his good form and try to seal the wicketkeeper’s role for a long period of time.

“But I feel it is necessary for Rishabh Pant to make his place more secure in all three formats. I feel there are still a couple of grey areas in T20s where he will have to work hard,” said Karim.