When BCCI announced the ODI and T20 squads for upcoming India vs Sri Lanka series in 2023, many were surprised by the exclusion of Rishabh Pant from both squads. Pant was the only notable absentee from the ODI and T20 squads. This has led to a murmur in the cricketing world – has Rishabh Pant been dropped from the Sri Lanka series squads? Let us find out!
It has been conveyed to us that Pant has been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to work on his strength and conditioning. Pant will be undergoing a knee strength and conditioning rehabilitation program. The duration of the program is 2 weeks. This is the reason why he will miss the entire Sri Lanka series.
The murmurs regarding Pant being dropped grew stronger because the BCCI kept a complete mum about this situation. The Board did not issue any press release regarding the same. The situation about Pant was reported by the news agency PTI.
Pant was part of the victorious team that swept Bangladesh 2 nil in their backyard this month. He has been an integral part of the Indian test squad for over 2 years now. He has played some match-winning knocks in alien conditions, the most famous being the 89* in Brisbane in 2021. It is understandable why the team management wants him fit ahead of the highly-anticipated home test series against Australia in 2023.
Pant has not been up to his standards in the shorter versions of the game. He has played 12 ODIs with an aggregate of 336 runs with an average of 37.33 with 2 half-centuries. In 25 T20Is Pant was part of in 2022, he could only muster 364 runs with an average of just above 21 and a strike rate of a tad over 130.
Rishabh Pant deserve better 😭 pic.twitter.com/RyyGfWfO2i
— Shamsi (MSH) ❤ (@ShamsiHaidri18) December 27, 2022
Other Big Names Missing from the Indian Squad
Names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were missing from the T20 squad that will take on Sri Lanka next month. Rohit is recuperating from an injury he sustained in Bangladesh and Hardik will be leading the side in his absence. Shikhar Dhawan was left out of the ODI squad. Senior bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been left out from both squads.
