These Stats Of MS Dhoni And Rishabh Pant Show Why The Latter Doesn't Deserve Criticism

Time seems to be running away for Rishabh Pant. Even before the youngster made his international debut, he was being compared with the legendary MS Dhoni. The former India skipper is one of the most decorated wicketkeepers to have played the game. What makes Dhoni’s stature even more legendary is his exploits with the bat.

Thus it would not be wrong to assume that Rishabh Pant would have been intimidated by the comparisons. The way Rishabh Pant played in the Indian Premier League and started his Test career, it looked like he will not let the team miss Dhoni. In less than a year of his Test debut, Rishabh Pant scored centuries in England and Australia, a feat that even Dhoni could not achieve in his illustrious career.

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However, it is Pant’s form in T20Is and ODIs, that has made many doubt Pant. His performance in the last few months have attracted criticism from all around. While some quarters have urged the team-management to demote Pant in the batting order, others have urged the management to try out other options like Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson.

Also Read: MS Dhoni Shares A Funny Video Recollecting Old Memories – Watch

It would not be entirely wrong to say that Pant is now receiving very little support from the fans and experts. At the same time, one can also say that the treatment meted out to the youngster is extremely harsh. Through this article, we are taking a look at Dhoni and Pant’s numbers with the bat based on the latter’s stats.

So far, Pant has played 12 ODIs and 20 T20Is. In ODIs, he has scored 229 runs at an average of 22.90. At this stage of his career, Dhoni’s number were just slightly better. In his first 12 ODIs, he had scored 317 runs with the knock of 148 in his fifth ODI making the big difference. Thus there is not much to differentiate between Dhoni and Pant after their first 12 ODIs.

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In his first 20 T20Is, Pant scored 325 runs compared to Dhoni’s 356. Interestingly, Dhoni had no fifty in his first 20 games while Pant has already scored two. Pant’s strike-rate of more than 121 is also far better than Dhoni’s 105.95.

So Rishabh Pant really does not deserve criticism at this stage of his career although the youngster really has the potential to do much better. But for the time being, he needs some breathing space and the stats comparison has showed that he deserves it.