Sourav Ganguly feels Rishabh Pant is the future of Indian cricket

The young crop of Indian batsmen the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Prithvi Shaw have all done well in this Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the one who takes the cake is wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. The left-hander has been in thunderous form and the fact that he is the Orange cap holder tells a story in itself. Last night he played the best knock of his T20 career against a bowling attack that hasn’t let some of the greatest get away.

He thrashed the likes of Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who are not only Sunrisers Hyderabad’s but among the top bowlers in the entire league. Pant scored an unbeaten 128 off just 63 balls that included 15 boundaries and 7 sixes. It is not only his maiden hundred in the IPL but also the first by an Indian in this edition of the tournament. Among the legends who have praised Pant after the knock is former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who thinks he is the future of Indian cricket.

He is the future

“For Rishabh it will happen, he will get there… I think he is the future,” Ganguly said talking about his chances of making it to the Indian team at a promotional programme.

A couple of days ago the national selectors picked the squad for the T20I series against Ireland and England surprisingly enough Pant wasn’t a part though he has been named in India A squad for the England tour.

“For the likes of Pant, Ishan Kishan, time will come. They are young there’s no hurry. They will get matured as they play more games with time. They will play for India in the years to come.

“But having said that consistency is important, hope it’s not just one off. I was reading about Ishan Kishan after that knock in Kolkata… When you pick someone for the country, you look at consistency — how many times does he keep doing that. Yes, T20 is different, opportunities are a lot lesser,” Ganguly added.

You cannot replace Dhoni

He defended the selectors and said that with MS Dhoni in the team there is no way the youngsters can be picked and they also have Dinesh Karthik around who has been in the line for years.

“At the present moment MS Dhoni is there. You can’t replace MS at the moment, then you have Dinesh Karthik who also deserves a chance in the national side, especially after what he did in Sri Lanka to win that game which was absolutely lost for India. Dinesh deserves more than anybody else because I think he is a very very good player,” the former Indian captain stated.

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