Unfair to compare newcomer Rishabh Pant with MS Dhoni: India bowling coach Bharat Arun

Rishabh Pant, the 21-year-old from Uttarakhand, discovered cricket to be a ruthless leveller in the first year of his international career. After an impressive and even dominating show with the bat in the longer format, the 21-year-old saw the lowest point so far in his short career in the fourth match of the ongoing ODI series against Australia at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.

Keeping in an ODI for the first time, Pant had a few serious goof-ups with the ball behind the stumps that helped the Australians run away with the game. The visitors successfully chased a massive target of 359 to square the series 2-2 with the decider to be played in Delhi on Wednesday. Clamour grew over returning Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni, who has been rested for the last two games of the series, after Pant’s poor show.

The youngster was also slammed for trying to ape Dhoni’s trademark ‘no-seeing run-outs’ in Mohali with many saying there could be only one Dhoni. However, Pant also saw people backing him and they included India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun, who felt it was unfair to compare a newcomer with a legend.

Team experimenting ahead of WC, says Bharat Arun

The 56-year-old Arun, who has been credited for the improvement in India’s bowling performance, told the media on the eve of the final ODI in Feroz Shah Kotla that the team was in the middle of experimentations ahead of the World Cup starting in England and Wales on May 30. The Kotla match will be India’s final international assignment ahead of the mega event where they play South Africa in their first game on June 5.

“Unfair to compare Dhoni and Pant. Dhoni’s stature is huge. He is a legend. His work behind the stumps is exemplary,” Arun said. “MSD is a huge influence on the team. We will be trying out different combinations. Not necessarily these combinations will be in the World Cup. Any mistakes, hiccups have to be now. We are extremely cautious.”

The Indian team did not train on the eve of the big clash with Australia and Arun said the hosts wanted to be mentally fit for the occasion. India won the first two games in Hyderabad and Nagpur but Australia won the next two in Ranchi and Mohali to make it a thrilling series.

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