Rishabh Pant is a risk-reward selection who can provide the cutting edge India need

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It was a waiting game at Trent Bridge today – waiting primarily for the inevitable abandonment. That’s one way for both India and New Zealand to protect the last remaining unbeaten records in the World Cup.

But it was another kind of waiting for India, for the arrival of Rishabh Pant in England as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan will be in plaster for a fortnight, after being hit on the thumb by Pat Cummins at The Oval, before India make a call on his continued involvement. Pant is boarding a plane to Heathrow or Manchester anytime soon.

It begged the question of whether Pant is the best available player, from any of the 10 countries, not currently in a World Cup squad?

Before you mention AB de Villiers… no, he doesn’t count. Though he made a last-ditch offer to join South Africa’s squad, he hadn’t fulfilled his board’s selection criteria since retiring from international cricket in 2018.

You could make a case for Dinesh Chandimal. West Indies’ preference for Ashley Nurse over Sunil Narine has been questioned in parts of the Caribbean. Alex Hales too, I suppose, given that he had served his 21-day ban for drugs and was deselected by senior player consensus. David Willey probably has most to feel aggrieved about, given his USP of the left-arm angle for the last few years in England’s side. I’m sure some wag will think of others.

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But Pant sticks out. He’s a completely different player from Jofra Archer, of course, and had actually played for India with glittering success before the World Cup squad selections were made. But both have that palpable natural ability, a gamechanger who screams to be picked as much for what they could achieve rather than what they have so far.

I first saw Pant in the flesh back here at Trent Bridge 12 months ago, when India pitched up for the third Test of the fascinating series against England. They lost it 4-1, though that was hardly an accurate reflection of the gap between the teams.

As baptisms of fire go, it was like getting thrown on top of a bonfire. Pant was thrust in for a Test debut after Wriddhiman Saha was injured and Dinesh Karthik dropped, and asked to keep wicket to a red Dukes ball which snaked around like a heat-seeking missile.

Toughest to deal with was of course Jasprit Bumrah – who is a bit like Courtney Walsh on amphetamines (not literally) for such pace at an awkward angle – and he had the ball darting every which way past the bat, scraping the edge, or flicking the pads.

Pant more than kept his chin up and clung on to five catches on debut, playing an underestimated role in one of India’s greatest Test victories overseas. Then, at The Oval, came that brilliant 114, which was somewhat lost in England’s victory and Alastair Cook’s teary farewell to Test cricket.

^{Pant dealt with the pressure of his Test debut with aplomb}

You might be forgiven for wondering how this bloke could not be in the World Cup. Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that. There’s only 15 players you can pick. And India are fairly good at this one-day lark.

Plus, many Indian journalists will say that the decision to go with Dinesh Karthik as the second wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni was completely logical. He’s more experienced, and probably more reliable than Pant.

And in a sense, for all lovers of wicketkeeping, it is a heartening thought that Karthik has been selected on grounds of his glovemanship. This after years of fans and commentators judging keeper-batsman on the one string they actually understand, and the one that’s easier to quantify by stats.

But, just like ex-wicketkeepers were recently in charge of virtually every position around the England team – think Andy Flower, Peter Moores, Paul Farbrace, Paul Downton or Bruce French – they loom large when it comes to India’s selection.

When India’s squad was selected on April 15, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said: “All of us [the selection panel] in unison felt that either Rishabh Pant or DK [Karthik] will only come into the playing XI if Mahi [Dhoni] is injured.

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“If it is a crucial match, like a quarter-final or a semi-final or like an important game, wicketkeeping also matters. So that's the only reason that we went ahead with Dinesh Karthik. Otherwise, Rishabh Pant was almost there.”

Before the India squad was named, Kiran More – another past India keeper and chairman of selectors – said that he felt Pant sometimes snatched at the ball and has a trigger movement to his instep which can lead to catches going between him and the slips; that was certainly in evidence during the Test series last summer. For keepers, it’s a natural movement that is hard to curb, especially to inswing, left-arm or very straight bowlers.

Plus, India’s squad is spin-heavy, and – though the weather has turned out to be less than conducive to twirlers – you can forgive the selectors for wanting to have the best keeper when Jason Roy, Kane Williamson or David Warner come charging down the track to Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav in a semi-final or final. Prasad said as much. Dhoni is still one of the very best up to the stumps; Karthik not far behind; Pant is a work in progress.

There is also a perception that Karthik is a better finisher of games than Pant, and the evidence of games in the Indian Premier League would bear that out. That will become even more important if Dhoni does fall injured. “Under pressure, we have seen Dinesh Karthik finishing matches,” said Prasad. “That's one reason that scored for him.”

But it is hard to ignore the rate at which Pant scores. Simon Hughes, editor of The Cricketer magazine, believes that a glaring weakness is the (relatively) sedate pace at which India’s top order score, though you could easily argue that it matters less when Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are stringing together huge partnerships, which they tend to do.

A century at The Oval underlined Pant's class

But what Pant would give to India is the prospect of really quick runs. Look at those strike-rates: in T20, Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli and Rahul are all striking between 124 and 138. Pant is going at 161.

In ODIs, admittedly a small sample size for Pant, those four are going at between 81 and 94. Pant’s is 131. In all List A he is going at 104.

At present, India seem to have earmarked Hardik Pandya (who is striking at 120) to up the ante, as signposted by his elevation to No.4 in the game against Australia. But you could just as easily see Pant entrusted with that role.

Even now, with a finger injury to Dhawan, reports in India suggested that selectors and management were split on the wisdom of sending Pant over as cover. The management will wait three games to make the call on Dhawan, so important is he to India’s side. That’s fair enough.

Prasad said in April that either of Karthik and Pant would play only if Dhoni was injured. But doesn’t all this change if other batsmen start going down injured? The possibility that Karthik or Pant may have to be pressed into action as a specialist batsman has gone up a bit with Dhawan’s injury. And it’s not so hard to see Pant strolling out at No.4, 5 or 6 and playing a match-surging hand for India. If he does that, Dhoni might not need to perform his last-over Houdini show quite so often.

And you’d make sure you’re in front of a screen when Pant does stroll out there.

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