Rishabh Pant calls up his idol MS Dhoni every day, reveals Ravi Shastri

Ever since MS Dhoni’s big-hitting prowess in crunch situations have been waning and after the emergence of youngster Rishabh Pant on the big stage, a lot of people have already termed Pant as Dhoni’s official successor in the team. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman performed very well in the historic Test series win against Australia, and many argue that he should replace Dhoni in the ODI team for the World Cup.

But head coach Ravi Shastri, in a recent interview, made it very clear that Dhoni in the limited-overs side is irreplaceable until he himself decides to call it a day. In a candid chat with Michael Vaughan, Shastri also revealed that Pant considers Dhoni as his biggest hero and not as someone who is taking his place in the team.

“His [Pant] hero is MS. Every day he is on the phone to MS. I think during the Test series, he must have spoken more to MS than anyone else. It is great when you have that mutual respect. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, the respect they have for each other is unbelievable, so it makes my job in the dressing room so much easier,” he was quoted as saying on for the Daily Telegraph.

MS Dhoni revives his form

Dhoni shut his critics by guiding India to the first bilateral ODI series win in Australia with three consecutive fifties and a Man of the Series-winning performance. With Dhoni slowly reviving his form, he will help the team resolve the middle order problems. The Indian team, both in the batting and bowling departments, looks balanced for the World Cup as of now. But it is too early to say that we have found a reliable batsman in Dhoni, who can finish all the games in the mega event later this year.

As for the young Pant, he will have to wait to become a ODI regular till the time the legendary cricketer is still donning the blue jersey.

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