Wasn’t going to be easy for Pant to replace Dhoni, admits Vikram Rathour

Wasn’t going to be easy for Pant to replace Dhoni, admits Vikram Rathour

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Rishabh Pant still has the backing of team management

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BCCI

Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour has admitted that it wasn’t going to be easy for Rishabh Pant to replace MS Dhoni given the latter’s rich legacy. The youngster didn’t have a great year after a string of failures and head coach Ravi Shastri lashed out at the choice of his shots.

Former India captain MS Dhoni was seen donning the Indian jersey in July last year during the World Cup semifinal game against New Zealand. Ever since India’s exit from the World Cup, Dhoni has been on an indefinite absence leaving Rishabh Pant to take up the keeping responsibilities in limited-overs. Pant, in fact, played every white-ball game from July to December 2019 but failed to capitalise and was criticised for playing irresponsible shots by head coach Ravi Shastri.

Even though Pant had the backing of the team management, they did move on from him in 2020 giving KL Rahul dual responsibilities. However, according to Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour, Pant still has the backing of the team management. Rathour also added that it was never going to be easy for Pant to replace Dhoni. 

"He (Rishabh Pant) hasn't had a great last year and hasn't done too well in international cricket. He still has the backing of the team management and we believe he is a special player. He can still bring a lot to the Indian cricket team once he starts scoring," Rathour told Sportskeeda.

“MS Dhoni is still around, we don't know what is happening with him, but replacing someone like him is not and was never going to be easy, with the kind of stature he had in international cricket. Pant has had a few failures so he has been under pressure to perform, but something like this makes you a stronger and better player," Rathour added.

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