Rishabh Pant is leading the Rest of India against Jammu & Kashmir in the Irani Cup at the Sher-i-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar. Pant said, "Whatever is in front of me, I'll give my best." He now focuses on red-ball cricket as he works to return to the national team.

Rishabh Pant could have been in Guwahati. KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel got there before he could.

He could have been at the Asian Games in Nisshin. Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson received those tickets instead.

Or perhaps Puducherry, for India A's series against Australia A, but the selectors chose to place their faith in the promise of Prabhsimran Singh and Kumar Kushagra.

Across three different white-ball teams, Pant finds his name absent from the list of wicketkeeper-batters under consideration. His relationship with the national team now arrives with a two-word prefix -- "Rest of." And so here he is, at the Sher-i-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar, leading the Rest of India against Jammu & Kashmir in the Irani Cup.

Red reckoning

For Pant, every egg -- by compulsion, and not choice -- now sits in a single basket. The red has eclipsed the white entirely, and any dent in the one format where he still commands trust could further deepen his estrangement from the Indian set-up.

And Pant bats as he knows it. While the rest of the Rest of India squad kept training deliberately light on the eve of the match, as cricketers tend to, Pant batted on, facing whoever he could rope in -- even the team officials!

"It is very simple for me. Whatever is in front of me, I'll give my best. That's how I played cricket, and I keep it very simple. So, whatever the opportunity I get, I try to make the best out of it," he says at the press conference.

Asked about life on the conveyor belt of extremes by this newspaper, Pant offers a glimpse into his psychological wiring. "What I do is focus on the controllables. I try to give my best every time I take the field and that has been the key for me over a period of time. Yes, there will be ups and downs. When you have to have an international career spanning 15-20 years, you have to go through all these things. So, I have that kind of mindset -- keep it very simple, have the right guidance in your mind, have the right people to guide you, and just keep giving your best each and every time you take on the field."

Bowling void

In the opposition camp, however, 'simple' is not among the buzzwords, for they find themselves dealing with a complex problem. The defending Ranji Trophy champions will take the field without the pace pairing that combined for 81 wickets last season. Auqib Nabi now wears India colours, while Yudhvir Singh Charak is nursing an injury.

"The wicket in this stadium has a lot on offer for the pacers. Even a score of 200-250 will be big. But we will not have two of our main guys," Ajay Sharma, coach of the Jammu & Kashmir team, tells The Indian Express. "We have two quality seamers in Umar Nazir and Sunil Kumar, but finding the third seamer could be a challenge for us. We trialled players for the role, but could not find the suitable replacement."

Among those who trained with the squad were Umran Malik -- who played only one match in the title-winning Ranji Trophy season, and Brijesh Sharma -- who is yet to make his First-Class debut, but has already played in the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals. Neither could make the cut.

Captain Paras Dogra, however, prefers to see the glass half-full. "Obviously, we will be missing Auqib -- he took 60 wickets last season! But at the same time, we have plenty of good bowlers. It is a good sign for Jammu & Kashmir's cricket as well, that we have bowlers ready to pounce on the chance. Auqib and Yudhvir are not there, but we have guys like Umar Nazir and Sunil Kumar, who are hungry, and who are in great shape."

While his state teammates trained for the Irani Cup, Auqib Nabi was making his international debut. Judged in isolation, the numbers filtering back from Guwahati might not stir much confidence. But Nabi's presence will inspire the dressing room, Sharma believes.

"There is no point in denying that Auqib will be a major miss for us. But at the same time, it has to be said that Auqib not playing this match will present a big opportunity to the other players to follow his footsteps. He is an inspiration for my players now. I hope we have more cricketers who do what Auqib has done, impress the selectors and make it to the national team."

Irani Cup: Jammu & Kashmir vs Rest of India, live on Star Sports Network from 9:30 AM