Rishabh Pant was touted as the possible successor for MS Dhoni’s place in the Indian cricket team but the youngster has been less than impressive in the last couple of limited over series. Pant was unable to impress with the bat and the inclusion of Sanju Samson in the squad means extra pressure for the wicket-keeper batsman. However, the team has showed an immense amount of faith when it comes to him and during the first T20I encounter against West Indies on Friday, he will have a chance to break Dhoni’s record against the Windies.
Currently, Dhoni has five dismissals (three catches and two stumpings) against West Indies – the most by any wicket-keeper in India-West Indies T20Is. Pant, who has three till now, is fifth in the list but with three matches coming up in the series, he will have a great chance to take the lead in the list.
MS Dhoni (IND): 5 in 7 matches (Catches – 3, Stumpings – 2)
Dinesh Ramdin (WI): 5 in 7 matches (Catches – 5, Stumpings – 0)
Andre Fletcher (WI): 3 in 4 matches (Catches – 3, Stumpings – 0)
Dinesh Karthik (IND): 3 in 4 matches (Catches – 3, Stumpings – 0)
Rishabh Pant (IND): 3 in 7 matches (Catches – 3, Stumpings – 0)
India would be looking to put the rare blemishes in T20Is behind them when they take on the West Indies.
India had whitewashed Windies in all the three formats when they visited the Caribbean Islands earlier in August.
However, in the T20I series against Bangladesh played last month, the Men in Blue – under Rohit Sharma — weren’t at their absolute best as they conceded their first-ever defeat to their Asian neighbours in the format.
The hosts will be buoyed by the return of regular Virat Kohli, who has provided the much-needed stability at the top of the order. Breaching the Indian top four — Rohit, KL Rahul, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer – would be a tough nut to crack for any bowling attack and considering that the Windies lack experience on that front, it would be an uphill task for the visitors to crack the Indian juggernaut
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