Brian Lara picks his strongest contender to take over MS Dhoni

The entire cricket fraternity was left stunned a couple of months ago when MS Dhoni– one of the most successful skippers of the sport– bid adieu to international cricket. The former India captain’s retirement from the biggest stage has left Indian fans in dilemma over the wicketkeeping spot.

While KL Rahul has cemented his place behind the stumps in the limited-overs format, many still feel that 23-year-old Rishabh Pant has a ton of potential. Apart from Rahul and Pant, Sanju Samson— due to his batting exploits in the on-going IPL 2020– has also joined the race for Team India’s wicketkeeping slot.

Though Samson isn’t keeping the wickets for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020, he is regareded as a safe option behing the stumps. Reacting over Team India’s wicketkeeping conundrum, West Indies’ great Brian Lara has opened up on who can be the strongest contender to take over from Dhoni across all formats.

KL Rahul should not be bothered with wicketkeeping: Brian Lara

Lara believes Rahul shouldn’t be bothered with wicketkeeping duties as his strength is to amass runs with his willow. According to the former West Indies skipper, Pant could be the one to replace Dhoni if the young southpaw keeps delivering consistenly. While donning the Delhi Capitals jersey in the on-going season, Pant has stitched runs on a consistent rate. In five matches so far, the left-hander has scored 171 runs at an impressive average of over 40.

“Well, first of all I would like to say that KL Rahul should not be bothered with wicketkeeping when it comes to that Indian squad. He’s such a great batsman that I feel that he should concentrate on that and put in a lot of runs on the board. Sanju Samson, who is not ‘keeping for Rajasthan Royals, but I do understand that he keeps, that’s one of his main jobs – very classy player, looks good so far in the tournament in Sharjah,” said Lara on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

I feel there’s a little chink in his armoury in terms of his technique against very good bowling on sporty tracks. Rishabh Pant a year ago, I would say no, but I feel that he has stepped up in terms of his responsibility as a batsman. Look at how he plays for Delhi Capitals, it looks like he wants that responsibility, he wants that onus on him to score runs, build an innings and get big scores. If he continues that way, I think that he should the No. 1,” he added.