Logistical reasons opened gates for Parthiv Patel instead of Rishabh Pant

There have been a lot of discussions about naming of Parthiv Patel as the wicket-keeper for the Mohali Test. Rishabh Pant was being tipped as the ideal player to break out in the side. However, the MSK Prasad-led selection committee chose Patel to replace injured Wriddhiman Saha. When Wriddhiman Saha was injured, many wicket-keepers were in contention to replace him.

Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and Madhya Pradesh keeper Naman Ojha were in the frame. But the name that raced ahead of all, was Rishabh Pant. The Delhi-batsman has been in a prolific form in the ongoing Ranji season. He is the leading run scorer thus far. He started off with a century against Assam and then plundered 308 off just 326 balls against Maharashtra.

That was not the end of the road for the Delhi wicket-keeper. He soon scored a brisk 48-ball ton against Jharkhand to enter the record books. He hit the fastest century in the history of Ranji Trophy. With over 850 runs in the season already, Rishabh Pant had a case served for himself. However, it was Gujarat wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who got the lucky call up.

Patel has been in a decent form, but certainly not the best of it. Now, an unknown official recently cited the logistical reasons being the factor for choosing Patel over Rishabh Pant. In a talk with ESPNcricinfo, the official quoted, “Being a left-hand bat – England have a leg-spinner and a left-arm spinner in Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari. So, a left-hander will add more to the team.”

This sounds ridiculous since Pant is also a left-handed batsman. The logistical reasons might well be a concern though. Pant is in Kerala at the moment. There was no way he could join the national side at Mohali by Friday. He had to travel to Kochi by road from Wayanad, the venue of his next Ranji fixture. From Kochi, he had to board a flight to Delhi and then a flight to Chandigarh.

The selectors could have still named him, one would opine. With Saha being 32 years of age, it is only high time to groom younger keepers in the country.