Will lead India with...: Rishabh Pant makes BIG statement after being named captain for India vs SA series

Rishabh Pant, who was the designated vice-captain for the home series against South Africa, was handed the captaincy after skipper KL Rahul was ruled out a day before the first game due to a right groin injury.

Team India wicketkkeper-batter Rishabh Pant (Source: Twitter)

The designated time of India's press conference was pushed back by more than 90 minutes. The real reason behind it came through a BCCI release which said that wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was elevated to captaincy for the T20I series against South Africa.

Pant, who was the designated vice-captain for the home series against South Africa, was handed the captaincy after skipper KL Rahul was ruled out a day before the first game due to a right groin injury. Regular skipper Rohit Sharma is being rested for the series. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been ruled out after he was hit on his right hand while batting in the nets on Tuesday.

As Pant made his way through to address his first press conference on the eve of his now India captaincy debut at his home ground Arun Jaitley Stadium, the 24-year-old was happy on being made the captain and said he will be taking up the responsibility with his chin up. However, the wicketkeeper-batter acknowledged the not-so-ideal situation the leadership duties came to him.

.@RishabhPant17 takes us through his emotions on leading #TeamIndia. #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/EVS59jHtMw — BCCI (@BCCI) June 8, 2022

''It’s a very good feeling although it didn’t come in good circumstances. The news just came in for me as well an hour back so I’m also processing it,” Pant said on the eve of the first match.

''I haven’t even digested the information yet. It is a great feeling getting this opportunity, especially in my hometown,” the Delhi cricketer said.

Experimenting with batting position

Asked if he will continue shuffling his batting order, he said, “My batting order will depend on the conditions. In these conditions, we can't have a floating batting line because we play spinners day in and day out.

“But if we need a floating batting line up we will have it,“ he added.

“As a captain, it will help me a lot. When you keep doing the same things over a period of time you tend to improve and keep learning from it and I think that will help me.''

Will learn from mistakes

The 24-year-old feels the DC captaincy stint in the IPL will help him in the series against South Africa.

“Captaining DC will help me a lot. I'm someone who learns from mistakes.'' 

Change in batting order

“Not much will change in the batting order as KL was to open. There will be one change. We don’t have a lot of openers so you can guess what that will be,” Pant said.

The @Paytm #INDvSA T20I series begins on 9th June. 

Excitement levels 

Take a look at the fixtures  pic.twitter.com/0VZQfdnT84 — BCCI (@BCCI) June 7, 2022

It is understood that Ruturaj Gaikwad will open the batting alongside Ishan Kishan in the series-opener on Thursday (June 9).

Numerous changes can be expected in Team India

With the T20 World Cup in mind, Pant said a lot of changes can be expected in the Indian side.

“As a team, we have thought about certain goals that we want to achieve as a team. We are continuously working on them. We are thinking about the World Cup. In the coming days, you’ll see a lot of changes.''

Excited to work with Rahul Dravid

Pant is delighted to be working with head coach Rahul Dravid closely once again.

''It’s is the best thing to have him around. I have worked with him during the U-19 days, with India and the IPL also. So there is a lot of experience there. Lots of learning from him like how to conduct yourself on and off the field, game tactics."

India’s T20I squad: Rishabh Pant (Captain)(wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.