Rishabh Pant could play in the 3rd ODI against West Indies

The Indian tour of the West Indies is going according to plan until now, with all three departments working in tandem to brush aside the West Indian challenge.

Ajinkya Rahane has beautifully slotted into the openers role and Shikhar Dhawan has carried his Champions Trophy purple patch into the Carribean. Kohli has been his usual consistent self and the bowlers have worked well in pairs to rock the West Indian batting unit.

Those little fielding lapses during the Champions Trophy have been ironed out and the fielders once again look like wolves on the prowl.

But there is still a spot of concern for Virat Kohli and co. Yuvraj Singh hasn’t really contributed much in any aspect of the game since that first 50 against Pakistan. The quality is still there, the match winning ability is still there, but you just have to wait a bit too much for it to surface.

And when you are preparing a team for the future you can’t keep waiting for someone to deliver, just because you know he can.

Rishab Pant has been waiting in the ranks for long enough and would be itching to go out and prove himself in this series. The BCCI would have anyways wanted to test their bench strength out in this rather ‘meaningless’ series, and hence you could expect Pant to be drafted in instead of Yuvraj.

Dhoni still is irreplaceable, as he contributes in terms of wicketkeeping, decision making and lower order hitting. Hence, if you need to draft Pant in, it is only Yuvraj that could make way.

In the post match press conference, Virat Kohli suggested that the team would in all probability opt for a few changes for the next game. Pant could very well be one of them.

“We’ll sit down and decide as a team about changes that can be made (when asked about Pant). We’ll go to Antigua and regroup, and that’s a possibility as well, give a few guys an opportunity,” said Kohli

Rahul Dravid has also been asking the BCCI to take a quick decision on Yuvi and Dhoni, as both of them are in the twilight of their career.

“It is a call that is got to be taken by the selectors and the management. And what they see as the road map for Indian cricket, and where they see the role of both these cricketers going ahead for the next couple of years. Is there a place for both of them? Is there a place for only one of them?” said Dravid