Updated August 17th, 2020 at 19:59 IST
Dean Jones' tweet on Pant-Rahul succeeding MS Dhoni invites mixed reactions from fans
Dean Jones reckons that KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant can succeed MS Dhoni in limited-overs cricket as -wicket-keepers. His tweet invited mixed reactions from fans
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Dean Jones believes that KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant can be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's successor in limited-overs format after the veteran stumper had brought curtains down on his international cricketing career on Saturday. Even though Pant had donned the gloves during the two-match away Test series against New Zealand earlier this year, Wriddhiman Saha continues to be Team India's gloveman in red-ball cricket as of now.
'I bet you KL Rahul & R Pant slept well last night!': Dean Jones
Taking to the micro-blogging site, the 1987 World Cup winner wrote that youngsters Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul would have slept well on Saturday night after the 2011 World Cup-winning skipper has announced his retirement from international cricket.
After MS Dhoni retirement yesterday... I bet you KL Rahul and R Pant slept well last night!!
— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano)
There were mixed reactions from the passionate Indian cricket fans after they had gone through Prof. Deano's tweet.
I think KL Rahul would walk in easily to any white ball format as a batsman and he as wicketkeeper is a bonus. The specialist keeper’s position is wide open between R Pant & Sanju Samson, with Pant being the preference of BCCI for some hidden talent which only BCCI can see.
— Suresh (@sureshkrd)
KL rahul is part time keeper .but he is good but pant is very talented than sanju samson. i think if kl rahul not doing job as a keeper then try to pant and ishan kissan.
— Suman Kangsabanik (@suman8926)
Rather than a specialist wicket keeper, India badly needed a number 4 position batsman, KL RAHUL is easy pick for it. If in case we wicket keeping is given to KL it would open options for an Allrounder. I personally don't see any technic or timing in R PANT!
— ravichandra (@ravichandral)
I always say that kl is more better than pant and also i said pant can play in team if need extra hard hitter batsman. we cant forget that kl is open special batsman not middle order but he can playing and doing well hope well in future also( in middle order)
— Suman Kangsabanik (@suman8926)
Pant was seen as a successor to the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni after he had been on a sabbatical from the game post World Cup 2019. Nonetheless, a string of poor performances with both the bat as well as the gloves meant that he ended up inviting criticisms from the fans as well as a handful of experts.
Rishabh was sidelined from the team after he suffered a concussion during the home ODI series against Australia earlier this year as a result of which KL Rahul was made a makeshift wicket-keeper and continued to don the gloves in the away limited-overs series against New Zealand that followed. Even though the 22-year-old was roped in for the two-match Test series for the same tour, he could not do anything exceptional after making a comeback.
Rahul on the other hand has only grown from strength to strength post World Cup 2019 where he was asked to open the innings after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the tournament due to a thumb injury. He had also proved his mettle as a middle-order batsman earlier this year both at home and away conditions.
Both the star cricketers will next be seen in action during the upcoming edition of the IPL that will be held in the UAE from September 19 to November 10. The southpaw has been retained by Delhi Capitals while the Karnataka cricketer will be leading Kings XI Punjab in the 13th edition of the cash-rich event.
(Image Courtesy: AP)
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Published August 17th, 2020 at 19:59 IST