Vengsarkar bats for Pant

Already in the backfoot after losing the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s, India finds itself in a must-win situation in the five-match Test rubber with all eyes on the non-performing batting order with the exception of skipper Virat Kohli. Vengsarkar, who was the chairman of selectors when Kohli made his debut, has now called for the inclusion of the explosive southpaw in the playing XI.

“Rishabh Pant should get in. Apart from Kohli, nobody has shown that they could score runs here. Whether it’s English or Australian conditions, you have to adapt quickly. You have to apply yourself and get runs,” said Vengsarkar. “You have to give respect to the bowlers,” he added. If Pant gets his maiden Test cap in Nottingham, that means Dinesh Karthik will be shown the door. Karthik, with scores of 0, 20, 1 and 0 in the four innings so far, has failed to justify his inclusion in the side.

Earlier, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly had also backed the inclusion of Pant for the third Test. Meanwhile, Michael Holding said that Hardik Pandya is neither delivering with the ball nor with the willow. The former Windies cricketer cited his poor show in all the departments as to why he can’t be considered as a genuine Test all-rounder for the time being.

“Apparently they are playing Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder to help out with the bowling. When he bowls he isn’t as effective as he should be. If he was a good batsman, if he was getting runs – 60s, 70s, not even regular hundreds – at the number at which he bats and then he bowls and gets two or three wickets, happy, hallelujah. Happy with that.

But he is not getting the amount of runs that can then allow him to get a wicket or two in the Test match. That doesn’t work,” said Holding.

“If you are going to be a frontline bowler anywhere in the world, if you are going to be someone that your captain can rely on, that can throw you the ball and expect you to get wickets and expect you to have control, he is not really the man in my opinion,” he added. Pandya scored 53 runs, combining two innings, in the opening match at Edgbaston in Birmingham and couldn’t pick up a wicket. Albeit he stepped with three wickets at Lord’s, the 24-year-old slumped with the willow yet another time. It will now be interesting to see how he performs in the Nottingham-Test provided he gets selected.