On August 14, the BCCI announced the teams for the first round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25. The four-team competition is scheduled to begin on September 5, and Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is set to make his comeback in red-ball cricket. Pant has been selected for ‘Team B’ but will not be the captain; instead, Abhimanyu Easwaran has been given the role of leading the team. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed his surprise over this decision, recalling that Pant was once considered a potential successor to Rohit Sharma in Test captaincy.
“Rishabh Pant is not the captain. He has been chosen to play in Abhimanyu Easwaran’s team and will be under his leadership, which is perfectly fine. But is Rishabh Pant not even considered for the Test captaincy role anymore? I find that a bit surprising,” Aakash Chopra commented in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I don’t agree with this personally because the best version of Rishabh Pant I’ve seen is as a Test cricketer. He is the only wicketkeeper in Indian cricket history to score centuries in South Africa, England, and Australia in Test matches. The way he plays in Test cricket and the consistency with which he scores, I think he was a good candidate for captain,” he added.
Chopra was also interested in hearing what India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, thinks about Pant as a captain.
“Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, and even Abhimanyu Easwaran are all leading their teams, but Rishabh Pant isn’t a captain. I think that’s a big point,” he mentioned.
“A fresh period has begun. I’m really interested to hear what Gautam thinks about Rishabh Pant as a leader,” the former Indian player continued.