Rishabh Pant, the emphatic wicketkeeper and striker from India, has surpassed the BCCI’s mandate ‘two-game per player’ by participating in the current season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 right from the start. However, Rishabh Pant has been working hard in the domestic league, but unfortunately, he has not been able to achieve any remarkable success.
According to a recent report, Cricbuzz has stated that Pant will not be present for the India vs New Zealand ODI series, which is set to begin on January 11, until some time later. The reason for his delay is that he wants to come to the last VHT group stage match of Delhi, which is going to be against Haryana on January 8.
Why Rishabh Pant will be late for the NZ ODIs?
Rishabh Pant’s decision to participate in the Delhi last group stage match indicates that he will be a few days late for the Vadodara camp of the Men in Blue, which has been established from January 7 onwards.
Although this action conveys a strong message to the selectors about Pant’s urge to remain in contact with the game, the fact that he is still on a rollercoaster ride has to be taken into consideration.
Rishabh Pant’s current form is very poor. In the six VHT matches he took part in, he managed to get a total of only two innings with the scores of 67 and 70; in the other four, Pant found it hard to get past even the 25-run mark.
Delhi qualify for the knockouts of VHT
Rishabh Pant’s performance in the tournament has been 42.40 on average, and leading Delhi, it seems quite logical that he wants his team to end the group stage on a high note.
For those who are not aware, Delhi is in Group D of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite 2025–26, and they are on top of the group with five victories out of six matches, which means they have already got the ticket to the quarter-finals that are going to start on January 12.
Rishabh Pant not to be in the Playing XI anyways
Rishabh Pant, while he did choose to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the preparation camps for the New Zealand ODIs, we still have to keep in mind that his selection in the playing XI for the first ODI remains a point of uncertainty.
With KL Rahul taking up the wicketkeeping duties and Pant expected to be mainly a specialist batter-wicketkeeper in the playing XI, he will be coming primarily as a specialist wkd-bat.
Pant’s last ODI was in Sri Lanka which was in August 2024, and his desire to maintain a good batting form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy does not only concern his selection for the upcoming ODI series but it is also understandable if he tries to support the team more through his performance.