Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has seemingly lost his place as a first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in the side's playing XI, and former Indian captain Kapil Dev has insisted that the youngster needs to look after his own career to make a comeback in the side. Pant had been inconsistent prior to the concussion injury during the second ODI against Australia, and has since not made a comeback despite gaining match-fitness.
"Pant is so talented. He cannot blame anybody," Kapil Dev said, as quoted by Hindustan Times. "He has to look after his own career. The only way for him is to keep on getting runs and prove everybody wrong. When you are talented, it is your job to prove people wrong.
"The players have to look after themselves. They should never give the option to the selectors to drop them or give them a rest."
Indian captain Virat Kohli reasoned that KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper allows the side to play an extra batsman after the series-win against Australia last week, and Dev stated that it is entirely the team management's decision.
"It is the team management’s call. I don’t know about these things. It is not my decision. The team has to decide who opens, who bats at No. 3 etc," he said.
Kapil Dev also talked about the injuries issues among the fast bowlers in the side. Currently, two limited-overs pacers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar) are currently on the sidelines with injuries, while Jasprit Bumrah also survived an injury scare in the first T20I in Auckland earlier this week.
Bumrah made a comeback in the Indian team earlier this month during the home T20I series against Sri Lanka.
"When you play 10 months in a year, you will get injured,” said Dev.
“You have to look after the fast bowlers. The conditions and weather in India is more challenging than other parts of the world. The team management will have to take care of them."
