Rishabh Pant has broken his silence on being dropped from India’s ODI squad. A day after he was left out of the West Indies series, he told the Business of Sport podcast in London that it hurt, but that he still believes in a comeback.
The squad was announced by the BCCI on 16 September. KL Rahul is vice-captain and keeper, and Dhruv Jurel is the backup. Until now Jurel was only in the Test side, and his rise has kept piling pressure on Pant. On the same day, Pant was named Rest of India captain for the Irani Cup.
Pant calls it a setback. From where he stands, it is closer to a trap, and his own form is not what gets him out of it.
“Obviously, you feel bad, but as an athlete, you have to understand that whenever there’s a setback, there’s always a comeback.”
Rishabh Pant, Business of Sport podcast, September 2026
🚨 Rishabh Pant on being dropped from the ODI squad :
Rishabh 🗣️: “Obviously, you feel bad, but as an athlete, you have to understand that whenever there’s a setback, there’s always a comeback.”
[Via : Business Of Sport] pic.twitter.com/xv7FXJ2ZVq
— ONE7 (@17pixles) September 29, 2026
Insider Read
Being India’s third-choice keeper is a trap, because your way back depends on Rahul and Jurel failing together, not on your own runs. The selectors dropped Pant from the ODI side and made him Rest of India captain on the same day. That is not a coincidence but a message: he is in the red-ball plans, not the white-ball ones.
A hundred in the Irani Cup will not win back an ODI place. After two years away, people forget a strike rate of 106 and a tag sticks instead: not ODI material. That tag only comes off by playing, and playing is exactly what he is not being given.
Pant’s ODI Record Since 2024
Pant’s last ODI was against Sri Lanka on 7 August 2024. Since then, injury and selection have kept him out.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 7 Aug 2024 | Last ODI, against Sri Lanka |
| Jan 2026 | Ruled out of the New Zealand ODIs injured, Jurel named replacement |
| 19 May 2026 | Dropped from the Afghanistan ODI squad, loses Test vice-captaincy to Rahul |
| 16 Sep 2026 | Left out of the West Indies ODI squad |
| ODI career | |
|---|---|
| Matches | 31 |
| Runs | 871 |
| Average | 33.50 |
| Strike rate | 106.21 |
| 100s / 50s | 1 / 5 |
| Best | 125* |
On the podcast, Pant still called an ODI return “a major ambition” and asked people not to judge him on narratives.
India’s ODIs against West Indies run until 3 October in New Chandigarh. Pant leads Rest of India against Jammu & Kashmir at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium from 1 to 5 October.
Also Read:
