'You need to have a better IPL than this' - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's leadership future after IPL 2026

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. KL Rahul replaced Pant in the role when the selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, announced the squad for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, starting on Saturday, June 6.

While Chopra believes that Pant can get back into the captaincy picture in the future, the former India opener urged the wicketkeeper-batter to focus on performing well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) nad continue scoring runs in the red-ball format.

"He would have to think about what has happened with him because being removed as Test vice-captain is not a great thing. He hasn't done anything wrong. He is actually a very good Test cricketer. I have no idea why he was removed from vice-captaincy there, but he has been removed," Chopra responded.

"He hasn't gotten chances at all in ODIs for the last two years, and suddenly, he has moved out because Ishan Kishan has come. A very middling IPL. You need to have a better IPL than this, and you will have to score runs in Tests as well to reclaim that lost glory. He can get the captaincy as well, although the captaincy CV is not looking good after what has happened at LSG," he added.

Aakash Chopra also expressed his surprise with Rohit Sharma not being able to score 500 runs in an IPL season since 2013, despite opening the batting in recent seasons.

"I was wondering when the last time he had a 500-plus season was. It's been a decade since he had a 500-plus season. He has won many trophies in between, but a 500-run season hasn't come, and he plays as an opener," he replied.

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Chopra said that for someone who has scored three triple centuries in ODI cricket, getting 500-plus runs in an IPL season shouldn't be too massive a task.

"It's a slight anomaly because he was a part of a very good team and lifted the trophy. All other things remain fine, but a 500-run season should come. We can leave this season because he was injured, but that doesn't sound right. He scores 200 runs in a single ODI for India, but not scoring 500 runs in an IPL season is a bit of a surprise," he observed.