Rishabh Pant picks MS Dhoni as his favourite batting partner

It’s no secret that Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni are fighting for the position of wicket-keeper-batsman in the Indian limited-overs side. But, rather ironically, Rishabh Pant picked MS Dhoni as his favourite batting partner among the rest of the senior Indian cricketers.

Rishabh Pant said that MS Dhoni is the most ‘sorted’ batsman in the middle and one needs to just follow the plan laid out by the former India captain.

“My favourite batting partner is Dhoni but it’s very rare that I get the chance to bat with him. If he’s out there, everything remains sorted. He lays out the plan and you just have to follow his lead. The way his mind works is amazing, especially during chases,” Rishabh Pant said during a Twitter interaction with Delhi Capitals.

Rishabh Pant has just played 13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 28 T20s so far in his short international career. He has often been criticized for batting too rashly and found his position in the side under doubt soon after the 2019 World Cup in England.

Apart from MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant also termed Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma as ‘fun’ batting partners. Rishabh Pant struck a good combination with Shikhar Dhawan when the pair turned out for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

“I enjoy batting even with Virat bhai and Rohit bhai... actually, whenever you’re batting with any of these seniors, it’s a different experience altogether. You have fun with them. You realise how their mind works. It’s a different chemistry... even with Iyer and Shiki bhai (Dhawan) in the IPL,” Rishabh Pant added.

Rishabh Pant has been dubbed as the successor to MS Dhoni but he has massive shoes to fill. MS Dhoni, who is yet to play in an international game since the 2019 World Cup semi-final exit against New Zealand, turned out in 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20s for India.

MS Dhoni is considered one of the modern ODI greats

MS Dhoni still averages over 50 – 50.57 to be exact – with a strike-rate of 87.56 in ODIs and is counted as one of the modern greats.

Although Rishabh Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper batsman to score Test centuries in Australia and England, the Delhi youngster has failed to be consistent in ODIs and T20s. Rishabh Pant averages 26.71 and 20.5 in ODIs and T20s respectively.

Rishabh Pant, though, has had an outstanding couple of seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Delhi franchise. He scored 684 runs in 14 games in the 2018 season followed by 488 runs in 16 games last year in the IPL.