Raina backs Pant to return to white-ball setup, urges him to play with freedom

New Delhi: Former India batter Suresh Raina believes wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant possesses the required talent to replicate his stellar Test cricket form in white-ball formats, provided he plays without hesitation and navigates through mental blockages.

Despite being a match-winner for India in Tests, Pant has been unable to establish himself in the white-ball setup. Though he’s played 31 ODIs and 76 T20Is, Pant last played both white-ball formats for India in 2024. He was an unused member of the 2025 Men’s Champions Trophy-winning Indian team, before being left out of the ODI team from the series against Afghanistan in June.

“He is my favourite player. I think what Rishabh has done is that he’s playing well and scoring tremendously in the Test matches. No, no, he is working hard. Dhruv Jurel is doing well; Sanju Samson is there. But Rishabh has that x-factor. What I feel and think is that he’s slowly maturing. You are talking about the white ball side of things, but it’s even true in the case of IPL,” Raina said to Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

Despite Pant’s established pedigree in the longest format of the game, his consistency in white-ball international cricket has drawn scrutiny. “I think he has done really well, as everyone knows, as far as Test matches are concerned. But why is the same not happening in T20Is or ODIs?

“Is he looking for something in his mind? What is it? I think he needs to figure out how to pace an innings there. In the Test matches, he used to play without any hesitation. Now if he has to hit a six there, he will hit on the very first ball,” noted Raina.

The former left-handed batter, who was a member of the teams that won the 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy, suggested that being free in his batting style can help Pant, who didn’t have memorable IPL 2025 and 2026 campaigns with Lucknow Super Giants before moving back to Delhi Capitals right after this year’s tournament.

“But sometimes a player feels a blockage, and I have seen and felt it - that I couldn't communicate better or that I could have been much better in Test matches. So, if Rishabh tries, he can spend time with someone who can guide him in white-ball cricket.

“He needs to be free in his style. He can achieve a lot. In the future, I think, God willing, he will do well because he has gone through so much - his setback and all. He will do it one day – his time will come,” he concluded.

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