Rishabh Pant may return to ODIs as India captain against South Africa
India cricket team star Rishabh Pant’s return to One Day International seems luminous as the wicketkeeper-batsman could be selected as the captain of India’s ODI series against South Africa. Pant participated in a One Day International last in August 2024. He is currently captaining the Indian team in the ongoing 2nd Test in Guwahati in the absence of Shubman Gill. According to a report from The Week, the BCCI top brass does not seem to be in a hurry to bring Shubman Gill back into action after the captain is ruled out of the ongoing second Test due to a severe neck injury he suffered in the first Test at the Eden Gardens. Instead, Pant, who took over the reins of the Test team, is expected to continue as captain for the ODI series as well. It is pertinent to point out that while other seniors like KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma can lead the side. Shreyas Iyer was the vice-captain, but he is too unlikely to be a part of the series, leading to the selectors and the management zeroing in on Pant to lead the side in the ODIs as well. The report states that since Gill is an integral part of the T-20I set-up as well, the management does not want to take any chances, given that he is a certain part of India’s XI in the upcoming T-20 World Cup 2026. In fact, the Punjab batsman might as well skip the ODI series to be fit for the T20Is vs SA that will take place between 9th and 19th December. As for Pant, he last featured in an ODI way back in August 2024 against Sri Lanka. Since then, he has been ruled out of the 50-over and T-20Is format, with Rahul being picked as the first-choice keeper-batter in ODIs.
Rishabh Pant warned for showing dissent to the umpire at Headingley
India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant who had a wonderful stint with the bat, scoring two centuries in the ongoing Headingley Test, was officially reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of the fifth day’s play on Tuesday for his on-field conduct during England’s first innings in the match. Pant was found guilty of having breached Article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an Umpire’s decision during an International Match.” The 27-year-old was also handed one demerit point for the incident involving an argument with the umpire. In the 61st over of England’s innings, when Harry Brook and Ben Stokes were batting, Pant was seen having a discussion with the umpires regarding the condition of the ball. “When the umpires refused to change the ball after checking it with the ball gauge, the wicket-keeper showed his dissent by throwing the ball on the ground in front of the umpires,” the ICC said in its statement. The charges were reported to ICC’s Elite Panel match referee, Richie Richardson, by the on-field umpires, Chris Gaffaney and Paul Reiffel, along with the third umpire, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, and the fourth umpire, Mike Burns.
