Rishabh Pant has been dropped from the ODI & T20I squad for India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia. Although he continues to be the part of the test team, his axing from the limited-overs format has raised a lot of eyebrows.  The young wicket-keeper batsman was a regular part of the national team in all formats ever since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Despite continuous failure, the team management stick with the southpaw till India’s ODI series against Australia earlier this year. As Pant sustained an injury in the opening ODI, the gloves were temporarily given to KL Rahul. However, the Karnataka cricketer impressed one and all with his keeping and batting prowess, emerging India’s first-choice keeper in ODI and T20I. Team India Squad for Australia Tour 2020-21: Rohit Sharma Rested From All Formats.

Although Rahul is the only wicket-keeper in ODIs, Sanju Samson, who plays for Rajasthan Royals, has been picked as the back-up keeper for the three-match T20I series. Fans were indeed not amused by the selection as the team management has touted Pant as a ‘match-winner’ on many occasions. With MS Dhoni officially announcing his retirement, the left-handed batsman was even touted to be his successor. Also, Samson, barring few games, didn’t too perform consistently in the on-going Indian Premier League. Owing to the fact, fans expressed disappoint over Pant’s exclusion. Rohit Sharma Not Part of India Squad For Australia Tour.

Fans Not Happy!!

No Pant In White-Ball Team!!

More Bashing!!

Where's Rishabh Pant??

Some Memes Here!!

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, who sustained a hamstring injury, hasn’t been picked in any of the teams while Shubman Gill found a place in ODI and Test team. Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj are some notable inclusions in the Test squad while Varun Chakravarthy, who took a five-wicket haul a few days back has been included in the T20I team.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2020 09:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).