Lucknow Super Giants: Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has said Rishabh Pant deserved to continue as vice‑captain of the Test team, insisting that the wicketkeeper‑batter remains India’s biggest match‑winner in the red‑ball format and that he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Pant’s elevation as India’s vice-captain in Tests after Shubman Gill was made the new red-ball skipper last year for the tour of England was seen as a clear signal that the wicketkeeper-batter was identified as a leader-in-waiting.
Even when Gill was ruled out of the Guwahati Test against South Africa last year due to a neck injury, Pant led India, though it ended in a massive 408-run defeat, as the hosts suffered a 2-0 series loss.
But the selectors’ latest call while announcing the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan left everyone surprised, as Pant has now been replaced as vice-captain by KL Rahul, who’s one of the current players to have captained India across all three formats.
"Rishabh Pant hasn't done anything wrong. Red-ball and white-ball cricket are two very different formats. You are judging him based on the IPL, saying that he is not doing a good job as captain, that his team is losing, and that he is not scoring runs. But I believe there is no bigger match-winner for India in Tests, as a batter, than Rishabh Pant,” said Kaif on JioHotstar.
Pant’s recent form as a batter and captain in IPL 2026 for Lucknow Super Giants has been a horrid one, but Kaif felt taking decisions on the basis of mixing formats is not good from the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee.
"Rishabh Pant hasn't done anything wrong. Red-ball and white-ball cricket are two very different formats. You are judging him based on the IPL, saying that he is not doing a good job as captain, that his team is losing, and that he is not scoring runs. But I believe there is no bigger match-winner for India in Tests, as a batter, than Rishabh Pant,” said Kaif on JioHotstar.
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“So, I'd want them to be consistent. Either go by form, regardless of age, and if you are scoring runs or taking wickets, you should get picked. Because I think Rishabh Pant deserved to continue as vice-captain," he added.