Former India cricketer and former chairman of the selection committee Kris Srikkanth says India would have been firm favourites to win World Cup 2023 if Rishabh Pant was on the squad.
Pant was met with a near-fatal car accident last year on 30 December 2022 after his car collided with a road divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, he has been recovering since Pant also missed the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month. Pant’s absence can be a big setback for the team.
Kris Srikkanth Said:
“We don’t know the real truth about Rishabh Pant. Because Rishabh Pant, if he was playing, I would have straightaway said that India is the real favourite for the World Cup. But I think obviously, Rishabh Pant’s fitness is questionable. Nobody knows how fit will he be before the World Cup. I doubt it. Many people doubt if he will play in the 2023 World Cup. Otherwise, the Rishabh Pant factor would have been very crucial,” said Srikkanth.
“So I believe guys like KL Rahul should be back in the middle order. KL Rahul has been fantastic. We have Rohit Sharma opening with Shubman Gill. Then we have Virat Kohli, who has been fantastic in this format and he has been in form. I believe India has got the capabilities of winning the World Cup,” he added.