Still enough time for Rishabh Pant to book his World Cup berth, says Sunil Gavaskar

India failed to produce their ODI magic in the first T20I against New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Wednesday as the Black Caps handed them their heaviest defeat in the format in terms of runs. The Indian batting saw a collective failure as none other than the veteran MS Dhoni succeeding to cross 30-run mark. Sensational hitter Rishabh Pant returned to the side but failed to ignite the fans’ hopes this time as he fell for just four runs in 10 balls.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, however, was not too worried about Pant’s failure saying the 21-year-old wicket-keeper still has enough time to seal a berth in the Indian squad for the upcoming World Cup in England. The legend was also sympathetic towards Pant saying it is not easy for any batsman to score immediately after joining the team and can have a bad day in the field, especially in the shortest format.

Pant returned to NZ after playing a few List A games at home

Despite his excellent form in the Test series against Australia in which he was the second-highest scorer in the series after Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant returned home as Dhoni replaced him for the ODIs in Australia and New Zealand.

He played a couple of List A matches for India ‘A’ against England Lions and hit an unbeaten half-century in one of them. He then joined the Indian team for the New Zealand T20Is but failed to impress and got bowled by spinner Mitchell Santner.

“I don’t think so [Wellington knock hampered his chances of sealing a World Cup berth]. There are five more matches in India as well the 50-over matches and the T20I matches against the Australians where Rishabh can make an impact,” Gavaskar told India Today.

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