Ajit Agarkar bats for Rishabh Pant's inclusion over MS Dhoni in Windies ODI series

Mumbai: MS Dhoni’s unimpressive show with the bat during India’s past few limited-over tours has caused a lot of concern with spots for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 tightening up.

Among those staking a claim is youngster Rishabh Pant who has been in stellar form ever since being drafted in the Test squad during the England series in August.

The swashbuckling left-hander came close to notching his second ton during India’s first Test against West Indies before being dismissed in the nineties. While there have been calls for the Delhi batsman’s inclusion even in white-ball cricket, Ajit Agarkar wants the selectors to include Pant in Virat Kohli’s squad for the upcoming ODI series.

“I can’t believe he (Pant) is not part of India’s shorter format setup,” Agarkar said to ESPNCricinfo before pointing out there was no harm in resting Dhoni and experimenting with the talented youngster.

“Hopefully they do that (ODI for Pant) sooner, rather than later, against the West Indies in the ODI series. There are five ODIs and there will be an opportunity to play him somewhere, whether as a batter or a wicketkeeper. I mean you know what Dhoni can do and there is no harm in resting him for a couple of games," the former India pacer added.

With cut-throat competition at the top-order for the Men in Blue, Agarkar suggested the number six slot could be the ideal one for Pant.

“He (Pant) is a good striker of the ball and looks like a batsman for all formats of the game, he looks the part,” Agarkar said. “In the top six, purely with his batting ability there no doubt in my mind that he has to be given the opportunity to see whether he is good enough. There is no left-hander (in the middle-order) and the way he strikes the ball, it is suited for any format," he continued.