He did a horrible job in SA series: Ex-Pakistan cricketer feels Rishabh Pant not mature enough to lead India

Rishabh Pant got a chance to lead the Indian team for the first time in the recently-concluded T20I series against South Africa at home. It was his debut series as captain and Pant got off to a poor start losing the first two matches in a row before helping the team bounce back and draw the five-match series 2-2. The final game of the series was washed out due to rain resulting in a stalemate.

It was in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul that Pant was appointed as India's stand-in skipper for the T20I series against the Proteas. While he managed to impress with his captaincy after helping India bounce back following two back-to-back losses in the first two games, his personal form with the bat was far from the best.

Pant was appointed as stand-in captain for the series in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul. While he managed to score only 58 runs in five games, his captaincy stint was also a bitter-sweet one with two wins and as many losses in the series.

Pant getting a chance to lead the Indian team clearly indicates that he is part of the leadership group in the side and might be one of the future leaders. However, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes Pant is not yet mature enough to lead India. Kaneria said the wicket-keeper batter did a horrible job while leading the team against South Africa at home.

"Rishabh Pant is not mature enough to be captain. He got a chance to lead the side in the South Africa series, but did a horrible job. Captaincy also tends to take a toll on his batting. I feel that he shouldn't be the captain anymore," Kaneria said in a video on his YouTube channel.

His comments came ahead of India's all-important one-off fifth Test against England in Edgbaston starting from July 01. The rescheduled Test match will decide the fate of India's away Test series against England last year where the visitors took a 2-1 lead before the final match was postponed due to COVID-19.

With Indian captain Rohit Sharma testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of the 5th Test, India are likely to name a stand-in skipper for the game in case the Hitman fails to recover fully in time. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the favourite to take over the captaincy baton in Rohit's absence but Kaneria believes the fast bowler should not be burdened with the responsibility.

"BCCI has indicated that Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah or Ravichandran Ashwin could be given the captaincy if Rohit Sharma isn't available. Bumrah shouldn't be given the load of captaincy and he should rather concentrate on his bowling. I wouldn't want him to lead the side in the fifth Test," said the former Pakistan spinner.