MS Dhoni vs Rishabh Pant: Where did Dhoni stand at the same time as Pant?

Rishabh Pant is the talk of the town, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The young wicketkeeper-batsman’s frustrating run of form continued throughout the limited-overs series against West Indies and more recently, against South Africa. Moreover, the comments from head coach Ravi Shastri, batting coach Vikram Rathour and chief-selector MSK Prasad have all hinted at one thing – Pant must learn, and he must do so quickly, because the management may lose faith in him at a certain point.

Amidst all the criticism, Pant has received backing from multiple former cricketers. Sunil Gavaskar and Gautam Gambhir have called for the team management to be more supportive of the 21-year-old in public. Recently, Yuvraj Singh made an interesting comment in support of Pant during an event in New Delhi.

The former Indian cricketer, who has been vocal in his support for Pant on multiple occasions, gave an example of MS Dhoni’s career trajectory. “Dhoni wasn’t made in a day. It took a few years so it will take a few years for a replacement also,” Yuvraj had said.

MS Dhoni's beginning in his international career wasn’t exactly inspiring. It wasn’t until his blistering 148 against Pakistan after a series of low-scoring games when the wicketkeeper-batsman announced himself on the international stage.

Yuvraj, who has shared the dressing room with MS Dhoni for a large part of his international career, makes a valid point in theoretic context. Now, we try to look at his statement with a statistical perspective – How did MS Dhoni fare in the same number of ODIs and Tests as Rishabh Pant at the moment?

One-dayers:

Rishabh Pant has played 11 ODIs so far, scoring 229 runs at an average of 22.90. The numbers are far from decent – however, there’s a significant gap between his appearances in the ODIs. Pant played three ODIs in October 2018, and then missed the series against Australia and New Zealand before being recalled in the playing XI for the home series against the Aussies (due to the presence of Dhoni). He played two games, and then played in the 2019 World Cup.

Rishabh Pant

Dhoni, meanwhile, made his debut in Bangladesh in December 2004. Despite a poor outing in the series which saw him scoring only 19 runs in three games (including an unbeaten 7), he played in India’s next ODI assignment in April 2006 against Pakistan, and eventually scored his first international century in the second game of the series.

In his first 11 ODIs, MS Dhoni scored 317 runs at an average of 31.70, which included a 148 against Pakistan. Barring a 47 against the same team in the series, Dhoni’s innings were relatively short (He batted at 3rd position after the 148-run innings). Despite the presence of significant competitors like Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel, Dhoni was backed by the-then captain Sourav Ganguly.

Tests:

Ironically, even as Rishabh Pant has shown enough examples of losing patience and going for the big hits, his Test record is in complete contrast with his limited-overs career. The youngster made a confident start to his Test career, slamming centuries in England and Australia. He has played 11 Test matches so far, and averages an impressive 44.35, scoring 754 runs in 18 innings. Pant has played against England, West Indies and Australia so far.

Rishabh Pant

Dhoni made his Test debut almost a year after his first ODI for India. In the same Tests as Rishabh Pant so far, the former Indian captain appeared in four-Test series – two away (Pakistan, West Indies) and two at home (England, Sri Lanka). In his first 11 Tests, Dhoni scored 531 runs with his best coming against Pakistan (148). He averaged 35.40.

Too early?

The statistical comparison suggests that while Rishabh Pant has better statistics in the longest format of the game, Dhoni holds an edge when it comes to the limited-overs. At the risk of clutching at straws, Dhoni's 148 make his ODI stats look better, but even the former Indian captain took his time to settle in the Indian blue. It wasn't until his 13th innings after his century against Pakistan when he reached his first half-century in the ODIs.

Yes, Rishabh Pant has been frustrating at times. But there is an abundance of talent in the Pant-sized dynamite, and the statistics do favour the cause of the Indian youngster.