Windies vs India: Rishabh Pant breaks MS Dhoni’s record as Indian wicketkeeper in T20Is

With an eye on the T20 World Cup 2020, India locked horns with West Indies in the 3-match T20I series. The team management tried its best to give chances to the young players to showcase their mettle and the youngsters repaid the faith in a fabulous manner, helping the men-in-blue to convincingly whitewash the West Indies team. The team was dominant throughout the series, and a major credit goes to the young bowlers, who restricted Windies in every game.

Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Washington Sunder, and Krunal Pandya were some of the finds in the bowling department. The batting looked a bit rusty at times, but good enough to chase every total presented against the team. However, all eyes were on Rishabh Pant. The southpaw, who is being touted as the future of the Indian cricket, had a golden chance to prove that he is the right successor to the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Pant betters the record in just 18 innings

However, he failed miserably in the first two games, getting out for a golden duck and a 4 respectively. He received heavy criticism on social media. But in the final T20I, the 21-year-old showed what he is capable to do. He scored a masterfull 65 of 42 balls, which included 4 fours and 4 sixes.

He joined hands with Virat Kohli (59 off 45 balls) to bail India out of trouble after both the openers were dismissed cheaply. The duo stitched a partnership of 106 runs. In the end, Pant finished things off with a six, something which was the specialty of MS Dhoni.

In the process, Pant also broke a big record of Mahi. He registered the highest score ever by an Indian wicketkeeper in T20Is. Dhoni’s best score in 98 T20Is is 56, which he had registered against England at M. Chinnaswamy stadium in 2017, the game which is remembered for Yuzvendra Chahal’s 6-wicket haul. Pant bettered the record in just his 18th ODI.

India next take on Windies in a 3-match ODI series, which starts from 8th August. It will be interesting to see if Pant can carry forward his form in that series as well. He has often been criticized for his inconsistency and throwing away wickets, but a good show in that series will be a statement to all those critics.

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