IND vs SA | Selectors want to pursue with Rishabh Pant and rightly so, says Sourav Ganguly

09/01/2019

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has backed the Indian team management's decision to pick Rishabh Pant over MS Dhoni for the T20Is against South Africa. Ganguly also hailed Pant as a 'special talent', while adding that veteran Wriddhiman Saha will have to wait for his opportunity.

Of late, post the announcement of the Indian limited overs squads for any series, the chatter surrounding one particular topic has been endless - the decision to "rest" MS Dhoni. While most of the people are of the opinion that young Rishabh Pant deserves his chance to cement his place in the team, a fair few feel that former skipper Dhoni is being slowly, but steadily, phased out of the team.

But one person who believes that the decision to pick Pant over Dhoni is the right one is former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who feels that the team management have made the right choice in persisting with the Delhi wicketkeeper. The former skipper said that Dhoni was also given the same backing when he was young.

"No, I didn't expect him (Dhoni) to be picked for this series (against South Africa). You could make out from West Indies (T20) series that they (team management) wanted to give Rishabh a chance," Ganguly told Times of India.

"They want to pursue with him, which is rightly so. Because when MS came in young, he was also persisted with," he added.

Inevitably, there has been fear on the minds of everyone that Dhoni's career might come to an abrupt end, and so Ganguly has stated that its key for skipper Virat Kohli to communicate with the veteran keeper, keeping him in the loop all the time. But the former skipper admitted that Dhoni's future with the national team will ultimately lie in the hands of Kohli and the team management, stating that the 38-year-old will be back in national colours if he's in the future plans of Virat & co.

"I think Virat is very important as to what he is communicating to Dhoni. What he (Kohli) expects of him (Dhoni) is very hard to say. But I don't think anybody should jump the gun and pass a statement. I don't know what's the communication between, Dhoni, the selectors and the team management. I am a bit far off from those discussions" Ganguly said.

"If Virat and team management expects Dhoni to come back and play, he will play, if they feel like moving forward, they would move forward. Of course, the selectors will also play an important role."

It is never easy for a youngster to fill in the shoes of a legend like Dhoni, but one can argue that the 21-year-old has so far done a commendable job. However, Ganguly was quick to dismiss any comparison between the duo, hailing Dhoni as a 'special breed', while adding that it won't be possible for Pant to become Dhoni anytime soon.

But the former Indian skipper also rubbished suggestions of dropping Pant from the team due to failures and insisted that he is a special talent. Ganguly also added that age shouldn't be a telling factor and said that veteran keeper Wriddhiman Saha will have to wait for his chance.

"Rishabh is no MS Dhoni and will not become MS Dhoni in the next 3-4 years. It took 15 years for MS Dhoni to become "the MS Dhoni". Dhoni is a special breed in Indian cricket," the 47-year-old said.

"I was reading somewhere after he failed in just two innings in the first Test match, that whether he will play the next Test match. I said "what?", this fellow got a hundred, only one Test ago (in Australia) and a couple of 92s few matches before that (against West Indies). He is special although I won't compare him with Dhoni.

"Wriddhiman will have to wait for his chance. Age doesn't matter here," Ganguly concluded.