Rishabh Pant has continued his fairytale return to the game by being included in India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The 15-man roster for the main event was announced on Tuesday (April 30).
His chances of qualifying for the World Cup were extremely slim after he spent more than a year on the sidelines recovering from injuries sustained in the horrific car accident. The wicketkeeper-batsman made his much-awaited return to competitive cricket in the ongoing IPL 2024 last month and hit the ground running.
Not many expected him to keep wickets from the start but Rishabh Pant has surprised many with his sheer commitment and performance. He hit the ground running and has impressed so far with both batting and wicketkeeping gloves.
Rishabh Pant is currently Delhi Capitals’ top run-scorer in the tournament. Overall, only three batters have scored more runs than him this season. In 11 games so far, the left-handed batsman has scored 398 runs with the help of three half-centuries. He scored an average of more than 44 runs and a strike rate of almost 160.
He and Sanju Samson were named in the squad as the two specialist wicketkeepers, ahead of players like KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Dhruv Jurel and Jitesh Sharma. Rishabh Pant is expected to be the team’s key wicketkeeper in the T20 World Cup.
Here’s how fans reacted to his inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad:
Rishabh Pant is back 🕷️🔥🥵
What a comeback man inspiration for many 🫡🙇🏻♂️ @RishabhPant17 #T20WorldCup24 pic.twitter.com/oPuoSZg9f3– Nani sai (@alwaysnanisai2) April 30, 2024
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From fatal accident to ICC World Cup team,
What a pair of travel Rishabh pants ❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/vZBbhaviTS— Rishabh Pant FC (@rishabpantclub) April 30, 2024
Rishab’s place in the T20 side is really questionable. I don’t know how and why he is chosen for the toilet. Sympathy card?
— Dr.AIRdrop💧 (@DrAIRdrop77) April 30, 2024
Bcci will realize that selecting the team based on the IPL was a mistake. Now Pant Hardik Jadeja is out of the lower middle order.
2024 IPL is the biggest scam #T20WorldCup2024 #rinkusingh #rohitsharma— Gaurav Sharma (@Gaurav_ke_tweet) April 30, 2024
It was a tough time for you, but you fought like a real champion 🏆 💕
Glad you’re back, Bhai
👑🇮🇳 Play well ❤️🩹❤️🩹
Rishabh pants#RishabhPant https://t.co/6dPOx1C4Cd pic.twitter.com/h9DRAqfs91
– BONG CONNECTION (@BOONMITRA) April 30, 2024
– Missed the 2023 WTC final.
– Missed ODI World Cup 2023.Now it’s time for the comeback. What a story, from a terrible car accident to playing in a World Cup after 18 months, Rishabh Pant is back. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/8E3aSGUjz0
–Jessica. (@Onehandedsix) April 30, 2024
Rishabh Pant returns to India’s World Cup squad after 18 months 🇮🇳♥️
He survived a devastating car accident, recovered, came back, played in the IPL and earned his place back 🫡 #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/cGPn1nAEuF
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) April 30, 2024
Rishabh Pant is back 🙂
This might be the biggest talking point of the T20 World Cup squad. Who would have thought he would be wearing the Indians jersey so soon? Not many… but he clearly had the confidence to overcome any obstacles.
Very, very happy for him…
– Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) April 30, 2024
From an absolutely scary accident to a much better recovery in the shortest format. Will make his international comeback in the T20 World Cup. Although IPL form was not a key parameter according to selectors, he was still selected. RISHABH PANTS 2.0 🎇 pic.twitter.com/jJfyuMZ4A2
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) April 30, 2024
Rishabh Pants poor record in T20 World Cup:
The upcoming T20 World Cup will be Rishabh Pant’s third as a player. He was also part of the Indian squad for the last two editions of the tournament. And despite being one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world, he is yet to prove himself in the T20 World Cup.
He has played seven matches in the T20 World Cup so far and managed to score a modest 87 runs with a top score of 39. With recent form on his side, he will look to improve his record in the tournament this year.
India’s squad for the T20 World Cup:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh , Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.