Former Pakistan captain rips apart Indian team management for sending Rishabh Pant ahead of Suryakumar Yadav

Former Pakistan batter, Salman Butt criticized team India’s decision to send Rishabh Pant ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in the, recently concluded ODI series, against New Zealand. In the three-match ODI series, Pant batted at number four in the first and third ODI and registered scores of 15 and 10.

Suryakumar Yadav batted at number three in the rain-marred 2nd ODI and played an unbeaten knock of 35 runs in 24 balls. Yadav has been in ominous form with the bat and sending Rishabh Pant ahead of Suryakumar Yadav looked baffling to Butt.

"He's (Pant) a flashy player, plays with a lot of freedom but he hasn't been able to deliver the kind of performance that was expected of him in the current (New Zealand) series. He should have scored more runs. But I didn't understand why he was batting above Suryakumar Yadav. You are playing an out-of-form batter in place of someone who is in the form of his life and is playing his best cricket. The in-form player should play more overs. He's the No.1 batter and you are sending him below an out-of-form player," said Salman Butt on his YouTube channel after the final ODI of the series ended in a no result due to rain.

"I don't know what's going on. This can impact an in-form player. I don't know whether this was the case here or not but a batter who is in the form of his life would want to play more deliveries," he added.

In the T20I series, Pant got the opportunity to open the innings, while Suryakumar Yadav batted at number three. Pant scored 6 and 11 runs in the two matches he batted in the series, while the Mumbai batter notched his maiden ton in the second T20 international and helped his country win that game comfortably by 65 runs.

India will next be playing against Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series and both Pant and Suryakumar Yadav would be looking to do well for their country.