Michael Vaughan believes India’s decision to overlook Rishabh Pant in their World Cup squad could turn out to be a ‘big’ mistake.
Despite emerging as a regular for India over the past year, wicketkeeper-batsman Pant was omitted from their provisional World Cup squad last month.
Pant has done his reputation no harm at the ongoing 2019 Indian Premier League, scoring over 400 runs in 14 innings including three fifties.
‘I think India have made a big mistake,’ England hero Vaughan said on BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘Looking at India’s batting line-up, they’re all right-handers except for [Shikhar] Dhawan.
How is @RishabPant777 not in the World Cup squad …… Pretty sure #India still have time to change …….. !!!!! #Bonkers #IPL19
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 8, 2019
‘I think they need a different combination and Pant is a firecracker. He will make mistakes but as we’ve seen in the IPL, he gets it right more often than not.’
Vaughan also sees similarities between Pant and new England star Jofra Archer, who has made an impressive start to his international career after completing his three-year residency period in March.
‘Pant is similar to Archer, they’re both so natural,’ the former England captain added. ‘I like those players, it’s a shame [for Pant].’
Speaking last month, India coach Ravi Shastri insisted he was not involved in the selection process for the World Cup, saying: ‘I don’t get involved in that.
‘If we have something to say, we convey it through the skipper and he puts it across on the behalf of the team management.’
On India’s chances of winning the tournament, Shastri added: ‘It is going to be a very close World Cup. You cannot pick any one team as favourites to win the showpiece event.
‘Though top four teams can be considered as top contenders because of their current form still it is going to be a tough competition. The gap will be narrow.
‘However, England have been most the consistent team over the last two years. They have got multi-dimensional players.
‘They have got depth in bowling and batting and they are playing at home. In the rankings, they are the number one team in the world.
‘But as I said, on a given day, any team can beat anyone. You will have to go by the rankings to see the consistency.’
