Rishabh Pant really turned up the heat with a stunning over against Abdul Malik, smashing three massive sixes that put the bowler in a tough spot.

The focus should ideally be on the historic, one-off Test match between India and Afghanistan at the brand-new stadium in New Chandigarh, commencing on June 6, 2026. Instead, the pre-match narrative has been entirely hijacked by internal leadership dynamics.

With Rishabh Pant about to play the 50th test match of his career against Afghanistan this Saturday, one former Indian selector had some high praise for the wicketkeeper.

The BCCI selectors have taken away vice-captaincy of the Test side from Rishabh Pant ahead of the one-off Test vs Afghanistan which begins in Mullanpur on Saturday.

The last few months have been nightmarish for Rishabh Pant, and now things have come to a head.

India coach Gautam Gambhir on Friday told struggling Rishabh Pant to stick to his natural attacking game after removing him as vice-captain for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Gambhir said that no player is told to "play a completely different game than his natural game".

Aakash Chopra questioned why Rishabh Pant was removed from his role as India's vice-captain in Test cricket, despite performing very well with the bat in the format.

Rishabh Pant was recently replaced by KL Rahul as the Test vice-captain.