With the selectors not picking Rishabh Pant in the ODI squad for the series against Australia and New Zealand, many felt that it was curtains for the youngster’s World Cup hopes. Pant has been making the headlines for all the right reasons since making his Test debut during the tour of England last year.
The southpaw got off the mark in Tests with a six before scoring a stunning century in the final Test. It was followed by two impressive fifties against Windies at home. And Pant further enhanced his reputation with a stunning display in the Test series against Australia. The highly-rated youngster finished the series as the second highest-run scorer, amassing 350 runs including a record-breaking unbeaten ton in Sydney.
Pant’s stunning form and MS Dhoni’s subsequent struggles made many bat for his inclusion in the ODI team. However, former India batsman Gautam Gambhir feels Pant will not make it to the World Cup. Gambhir feels MS Dhoni’s stunning performance in the just-concluded series against Australia will make it tough for Pant to get into the ODI team.
“I don’t think so. They’ve got MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. He can wait for his opportunity. Obviously he has done well in Test cricket. He’s doing all the right things. But if you’ve got Dhoni, who got [the] Man-of-the-Series award, he deserves to be there now. And it’s so close to the World Cup, you need someone like Dhoni. Karthik has been in decent form as well over the last four-five months. The good thing is, Rishabh is keeping them on their toes as well, which is always a good sign for Indian cricket, that youngsters are pushing the seniors,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.
Interestingly, chief selector MSK Prasad has said that Pant is still in the selectors’ plan for the World Cup. The left-handed batsman, meanwhile, will have a chance to bolster his claims when he plays for India A in the upcoming series against England Lions.