Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir lashed out at Team India management on the rotation policy between wicketkeepers Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant. Gambhir calls it “unfair” on both the wicketkeepers to get chosen on the basis of playing condition.
Team India on Friday announced their squad for the Boxing Day Test as Saha was dropped due to his below-par performance with the bat in Adelaide and flamboyant Rishabh Pant was picked over him. The southpaw has a decent record on Australian soil as he slammed a century during 2018-19 tour.
Gambhir asked whether the team’s think-tank will do the same with Pant if he fails in the next two games.
“It’s unfortunate and Wriddhiman Saha has played just one Test match in this series and he hasn’t done well and gets dropped.
“Imagine what happens to Pant if he doesn’t do well in this Test or the third Test. What do you do then? Would you go back to Wriddhiman Saha,” Gambhir questioned on YouTube channel ‘Sports Today’.
Gambhir, who is known for his frank opinion, said that the current Indian team looks unsettled as no one is secured.
“That’s why this team looks so unsettled because no one is secured. Professional sport is all about security. Everyone has talent when they are representing the country,” Gambhir, known for his frank opinion, said.
“All they want is security and that assurance that we are there to back you, not just by words but by action.”
No one apart from India rotates wicketkeeper based on conditions, said Gambhir.
“Actually, it’s been unfair on Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha both over a long period of time when they have picked and chosen players on conditions. You don’t do that with wicketkeepers. You do that with bowlers,” he fumed.
“In overseas conditions, you play two spinners based on conditions, its understandable, but which other teams in the world has chopped and changed wicketkeepers based on conditions. No one apart from India.”
Gambhir further lashed out at the rotational policy of Indian wicketkeepers as management prefers Saha in sub-continent, while Pant usually plays in overseas conditions.
“I have never believed in this theory of rotation policy that Wriddhiman Saha is only good for sub-continent and Rishabh Pant is better overseas because that’s not how good teams go into.
“If you are good in Indian conditions, you got to deliver in overseas conditions as well. Whether he does that or not is irrelevant,” Gambhir concluded.
