Why Rishabh Pant deserves to be in the Indian ODI team

India have been looking for MS Dhoni's replacement across formats since a long time, but haven't been successful in finding one. Since his retirement in Test matches, India have tried Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha and Parthiv Patel, but none of them have looked convincing enough for that spot.

But now, it seems that the experiment of trying the young Rishabh Pant has worked.

Pant made his Test debut earlier this year in England by replacing the out-of-form Dinesh Kartik. After struggling in a couple of matches, he finally succeeded in the final test at The Oval.

The wicket was very flat, but getting a blistering hundred against a bowling line up comprising the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad was exemplary.

In the home Test series against the Windies, Pant again played a few sublime knocks and dismantled the bowling attack. In the limited overs series, he did get starts but unfortunately was not able to convert them.

Coming into the Australia series, the selectors demanded consistency from him and he has done just that. He has scored runs every time he has had an opportunity to do so, and a scintillating hundred at the SCG to finish off the tour was just the icing on the cake for him. A total of 696 runs in nine games since his debut speaks for itself.

On the other hand, Dhoni is longer the game-changing finisher in ODIs that he once was. His record in 2018 was miserable, and his big hitting prowess seems to be diminishing.

A player like Pant, who can go after the bowling right from the start, would fit in nicely in the ODI batting order. He has proved his keeping skills as well by doing a fantastic job behind the stumps in testing conditions.

Pant's ability to tear apart the best bowling line ups in the world along with decent wicket keeping skills makes him a definite contender for a spot in the World Cup which is just around the corner.