In the current Indian squads of ODIs and T20Is, there has been a lot of talks about the upcoming wicketkeeper. For the last few series, the gloveman’s position has turned into a musical chair of sorts with the legendary MS Dhoni exchanging it with the likes of Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the limited-overs formats.
After missing two successive T20I series against the Windies and Australia, Dhoni is now back into the national side for the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand and also the T20I series against the Black Caps. Pant, on the other hand, has been axed from the ODI squads.
Though chief selector MSK Prasad has indicated at picking Pant for the final World Cup squad, the scenario is not too clear whether he would eventually make it to the England-bound flight since Karthik has played some crucial knocks for India the limited-overs game. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar also does not rule out chances of Pant making it to the mega event but he also wants Dhoni to get a befitting farewell in England.
ALSO READ: MSK Prasad Reveals Why MS Dhoni Was Rested
As per the quotes in India Today, Gavaskar said, “If Rishabh Pant does well and keeps his form, he can find a place for his batting. He is a left-handed batsman and that helps add variety to the batting line-up. So although Pant is not picked for the ODIs currently if he does exceedingly well in T20Is, he could come back.”
But the legendary batsman also feels that “Dhoni should be given the honor and recognition for all services he has offered with a World Cup place”. He said besides the fact that Dhoni’s calmness will help the Indian skipper Virat Kohli in the big tournament, the fact that he has served Indian cricket for a long time and led it to glorious heights should also be rewarded with an opportunity to play in his final World Cup.
MS Dhoni has played in three World Cups so far – 2007, 2011 and 2015 and of them, the one in 2011 marked the highest point in his career as he guided India to their second world title in the 50-overs format. In the 2015 edition, Dhoni led India to the semi-final of the World Cup after an all-win record but lost to hosts and eventual champions Australia.
