Follow UsRishabh Pant may not be part of the upcoming World Cup as he continues to recover from the horrific car crash in December last year, but Adam Gilchrist is impressed by the influence he has had over wicketkeeper-batters around the world in his short six-year international career so far.
In Pant's absence, KL Rahul will don the gloves, while Ishan Kishan too is an option, although the latter is solely seen as a middle-order option.
"I think Rishabh has inspired a lot of wicketkeeper-batters around the world to play that [aggressive] way. It is fascinating for such a young man to have such an impact that Rishabh has had, and others are responding and playing in that positive manner," Gilchrist, who is in India on a promotional visit, told PTI.
Speaking of India's options, Gilchrist, who has won the World Cup thrice with Australia, reckons, "They [India] are well stocked.
"They have got a couple of [wicketkeeping] options there, obviously, when KL was out with his injury, Ishan Kishan took his opportunity and played really well, and now they find themselves in the team together, so that's a wonderful case of taking an opportunity.
"Being positive and then forcing the selectors into keeping you in the team [is impressive]. It seems like KL is going to be the one who is going to continue with the gloves, but it does not seem to hinder Ishan Kishan's batting, he seems to be playing really well, carefree, attacking and dangerous."
India begin their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai. However, they will play a couple of warm-up games ahead of the mega event against England on September 30 in Guwahati and against the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on October 3.