'I think he can take over', Kevin Pietersen makes bold claim for India's Rishabh Pant replacement

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India are ruing the potential absence of Rishabh Pant in the upcoming ODI World Cup later this year. But former England player Kevin Pietersen believes India can replace Pant with someone from the current IPL roster.

Rishabh Pant's unfortunate accident in December 2022 has kept him out of the game so far. According to the latest reports, Pant is recovering and progressing well, but his full fitness is still some way away and will require around 8 to 9 months more.

That also will just be as a batter as wicketkeeping fitness will warrant further time. Pant, who has been a stellar performer for India in the last couple of years, will be a massive miss as the Indian side look to clinch the world cup on soil.

Amid this, former England player Kevin Pietersen believes India can replace Pant with Punjab Kings wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Despite the country-wide search for Pant's replacement, Pietersen reckons the PBKS player can take over the reins from Pant.

"India have their Rishabh Pant replacement. Jitesh Sharma, the wicket-keeper from Punjab Kings, is also something special. I think he could be the guy who takes over from Rishabh Pant for India if Pant is out for a while longer. His 25 off seven balls, including four sixes, against Mumbai on Saturday was match-winning," Pietersen wrote in his Betway column.

Jitesh has been in immense form this season. The right-handed batter knows to score runs quickly and his fearless batting in the middle order has been an asset for the Kings. He has so far amassed 145 runs this season at a strike rate of 149.

Will Sharma be the replacement for Pant? It looks like a long shot. The Maharashtra batter will be down the pecking order at the moment, behind many players. There are Sanju Samson, KS Bharat, KL Rahul who are hovering around India selection in limited-over formats.

Players like Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik are still ahead of Jitesh in the pecking order, and it will require consistent run-scoring from the Punjab player to heighten the attention on him.