3 Players Who Can Replace MS Dhoni For Sri Lanka Tri-Series

MS Dhoni is one of at least five top Indian cricketers who are set to be rested for the upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka. According to media reports, the likes of Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are set to be rested for the series.

The board has taken the decision keeping in mind the ongoing hectic tour of South Africa. India are in South Africa since the last week of December and the proceedings will concluded on Saturday (February 24) with the last T20I.

The selectors are set to announce the squad on Sunday. And not surprisingly, they will have a hard time naming a replacement for MS Dhoni.  So here we are taking a look at three players who can replace the World Cup-winning skipper in Sri Lanka:

3. Wriddhiman Saha:

The incumbent wicketkeeper-batsman has played only 9 ODIs so far. However, given the lack of quality wicketkeepers in the country at the moment, the selectors might play a gamble by naming Saha in the squad. Saha’s List A is also impressive where he has scored close to 3,000 runs at an average of over 42.

2. Dinesh Karthik:

One of the most experienced keeper-batsman in the world, Karthik returned to the ODI team during the Champions Trophy last year. He earned the recall after a very fruitful outing in the last season of the domestic season as well as the Indian Premier League. He had led Tamil Nadu to their fifth Vijay Hazare title by scoring 112 in the final against Bengal. Karthik had finished the 50-overs tournament as the top run-getter averaging 86.71 while scoring 607 runs in nine matches.

In the Ranji Trophy, he had scored 704 runs in 10 matches at an average of 54.15. He had also led Tamil Nadu to Deodhar Trophy title by scoring 247 runs in three matches. But despite being in the team since then, he is yet to cement his place in the team. Given his experience, the selectors might pin their faith in him.

1. Rishabh Pant:

Pant has been backed by many to replace India’s most-decorated wicketkeeper. The highly-rated keeper-batsman first made his presence felt with his stunning performance in the last edition of the Ranji Trophy.

He grabbed the attention when he scored a belligerent 308 off 326 balls against Maharashtra before following it up with a 48-ball hundred against Jharkhand which is one of the fastest first-class centuries by an Indian. He finished Ranji Trophy as its fourth-highest run-getter with 972 runs in only 8 outings including four centuries and a couple of the fifties

His performance saw him earning his maiden Team India call for the T20I series against England. He did well in the Indian Premier League but was not included in the squad for the Champions Trophy. However, he was recalled in the team for the T20I series against West Indies and could play only one match before being dropped.

He recently did extremely well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He finished the tournament as the second highest run-scorer, amassing 411 runs in just 10 matches including the 32-ball century against Himachal Pradesh. The runs came at an unbelievable strike-rate of over 195 and an average of over 45.