Vintage Rishabh Pant tees off in Delhi with T20 World Cup boarding pass within grasp

From missed opportunities to delivering his absolute best, Rishabh Pant has seen many ups and downs in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Pant certainly put all doubts surrounding his candidature for the T20 World Cup to rest after his sensational knock for Delhi Capitals against Gujarat Titans on Wednesday (April 24).

Coming to the crease when the Capitals were stuttering at 44/3, it took only five balls for Pant to get his first boundary towards fine-leg with a slog sweep.

Getting able support from Axar Patel, the keeper-batter tried to get his mojo back with his positive intent against the spin duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. It was the 11th over of the innings when Pant sent the ball to deep mid-wicket stands against Noor, which was undoubtedly a confidence-boosting shot.

The first ball of the following over saw Pant's vintage flick shot for a maximum against Mohit Sharma. A few balls later, the southpaw demonstrated his power by hitting a six towards the long-off region.

After Axar (66) was dismissed in the 17th over, Tristan Stubbs was impressive with a knock of 26 off seven balls.

Nevertheless, the final over of the innings was a sight to behold as the left-hand batter robbed off 31 runs off Mohit. He struck gold at everything that came his way: low full-tosses, bouncers and wide yorkers. Ultimately, Pant remained unbeaten on 88 off 43 balls to boost the Capitals to 224.

With this charismatic knock, there has been a chatter among the cricket fraternity of Pant bolstering his chances to earn a spot in the T20 World Cup, slated to take place in June.

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Does Rishabh Pant deserve a spot in the Team India squad for T20 World Cup 2024?

Currently, Rishabh Pant ranks third in the batting charts of IPL 2024 with 342 runs in nine innings at an average of 48.86 and a strike rate of 161.32.

His competitors include Sanju Samson (314 runs at 62.80 and SR of 152.43), KL Rahul (302 at 37.75 and SR of 141.42) and Ishan Kishan (192 runs at 24 and SR of 168.42).

Limited-overs performances of all keepers in West Indies:

Rishabh Pant - 222 runs in eight innings (5 T20Is and 3 ODIs)

KL Rahul - 20 runs in one innings (T20I)

Sanju Samson - 141 runs in seven innings (5 ODIs and 2 T20Is)

Ishan Kishan - 217 runs in five innings (3 ODIs and 2 T20Is)

Looking at their record in the Caribbean, Pant has scored the most runs among them, followed by Kishan. Most probably, the Indian team will go into the big ticket event with two wicket-keepers.

There are a few credible options in the top order in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are also expected to be in the squad. So, there is no dearth of options at the top, which might eliminate Kishan from the probables.

Due to his fearless attitude and ability to churn out runs in an unorthodox manner, Pant might fit the bill perfectly. Moreover, he can be a good option in the middle-order, due to his ability to take the game deeper and has a proven skillset as a finisher.

Hence, Pant is expected to be named in the 15-man squad to the Caribbean and the USA.

However, the selection committee will have to make a pick between Samson and Rahul. Both players have scored 300+ runs in the ongoing season and are leading their teams well.