MS Dhoni or Rishabh Pant? Who Will Play In The World Cup
Jan 2, 2019 at 7:09 PM
Just hours before departing to Australia with Team India for the ongoing series, head coach Ravi Shastri had pointed out that the team is more than unlikely to experiment anymore with the ODI squad ahead of the World Cup. He had said that chopping and changing was done for the time being.
“In ODIs… Chopping, changing over now. We’ll play a 15-member squad in Australia that will be close to the one that goes to the World Cup,” Shastri had told the media.
And it looks like MS Dhoni not Rishabh Pant is set to don the wicketkeeping gloves for India in the World Cup despite the former’s poor form.
Dhoni had a stunning outing in last year’s Indian Premier League. He led from the front, as Chennai Super Kings won the title for the third time. The 37-year old enjoyed a stunning season with the bat, amassing 455 runs in 16 games.
But he has struggled with the bat since then. He had a forgettable tour of England.
In the second ODI, he had walked into bat when India needed 183 in 23 overs. But never during his stay, Dhoni tried to go for the shots. In the end, he was out after scoring 37 off 59 balls, as India were all out for just 236 while chasing 323.
In fact, his innings was so unusual that the crowd even booed him at one stage which was perhaps the first time the legendary cricketer got booed in his illustrious career. MS struggled in the third ODI too. Dhoni managed to score 42 but used up 66 deliveries for the same.
Everybody had hoped that Dhoni would regain his form once he bats in friendly conditions during the Asia Cup 2018. However, those hopes got brutally quashed by the former India skipper. He started the competition with a duck against Hong Kong. It was followed by knocks of 33, 8 and 36. He also struggled to get going in the ongoing series against Windies.
The selectors then dropped him from the squad for the T20I series against Windies and Australia, hinting that they are ready to take the big call. However, they recently recalled him for the T20I series against New Zealand while also naming him in the ODI squad. Interestingly, the selectors dropped Rishabh Pant from the ODI side, thus indicating that Dhoni and not the highly-rated youngster is in team’s plan for the World Cup.