No place for Rishabh Pant in the ODI team right now, feels Gautam Gambhir

With the Cricket World Cup 2019 fast-approaching, the players are fighting hard for the spots in the Indian team. From the number four position, the back-up wicket-keeper to the all-rounder, there is still certain ambiguity about these positions. But more than any other slot, the one for the wicket-keeper is keeping everyone interested. MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are the three players competing for two positions at the moment.

While MS Dhoni is certain to be the primary wicket-keeper, Dinesh and Pant are fighting it out for the other spot in the squad. But, as per the current scenarios, Gautam Gambhir feels that there is no place for Rishabh Pant in the ODI side at the moment. There is no chance of leaving Dhoni out after the recent ‘Man of the Series’ performance in Australia. Dinesh Karthik, who is fulfilling the role of the finisher in the side hasn’t done much wrong in recent times.

The good thing is Pant is keeping them on their toes

“I don’t think so. They’ve got MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik there. He (Pant) can wait for his opportunity. He’s obviously done well in Tests and he has got the right things with him. But if you have got MS Dhoni, who has just bagged the Man of the Series, he deserves to be there now. India needs someone like MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik close to the World Cup. He’s been in decent form over the last four-five months and a couple of series”.

However, despite all this, Gambhir seemed to be really positive about the role Rishabh Pant is playing currently. He said that the 21-year-old is keeping the senior players on their toes. Gambhir opined that the youngsters pushing the seniors is a positive sign for Indian cricket.

“The good thing is Pant is keeping them on their toes, which is always a good sign for Indian cricket. The youngsters are pushing the seniors,” he added as quoted by Sportskeeda. The former cricketer also heaped a lot of praise of Jasprit Bumrah. He noted that he is a high-quality bowler and expressed no concerns about the awkward bowling action.

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