Rishabh Pant's Duleep Trophy heroics serve as a timely reminder to selectors amid batting criticism

During the 16th over of India A's innings, Navdeep Saini delivered a length ball that angled down the leg side. Mayank Agarwal attempted to glance it, but instead, he got a faint edge on the ball. Wicketkeeper Pant, who had just dismissed India B skipper Shubman Gill in the previous over, made a brilliant diving effort towards his left and managed to grab the ball with both hands to secure the dismissal.

Earlier on Thursday, on the opening day of the domestic red-ball tournament, Pant was dismissed for just seven runs, while trying to clear the mid-off region for a boundary, only to be stopped by a sensational effort from Gill to take a catch. Following the dismissal, fans on social media showed no mercy to the India star, who featured in his first red-ball game his car accident in since December 2022, with most urging chief selector Agarkar to pick Dhruv Jurel as the first-choice wicketkeeper, after the youngster impressed with a stunning show with the gloves for India A.

Pant, who is raring to make the India Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Bangladesh at home, starting September 19, will be in direct competition with Jurel, who impressed the selectors with a striking performance in his debut appearance in the home Test series against England earlier this year. In four innings during that contest, he scored 190 runs at 63.33 with a match-winning half-century knock in Ranchi, which had earned him a Player of the Match award.