India Vs West Indies: Rishabh Pant breaks MS Dhoni's long-standing T20I record

New Delhi, Aug 7: India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant scored a quickfire half-century against West Indies in the third and final Twenty20 International at Providence Guyana on Tuesday (August 6).

After back-to-back disappointments in the first two T20Is, the 21-year-old cricketer scored an unbeaten 65 off 42 deliveries with four boundaries and as many sixes.

With his explosive knock, the left-handed batsman surpassed veteran India wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni's record in the T20Is. Pant now has the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in the shortest format of the game.

The record was previously held by Dhoni when the right-handed batsman slammed 56 against England in 2017 in Bengaluru, which India won. Dhoni's 52 against South Africa in Centurion is the third on the list.

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Pant stitched a partnership of 106 runs with his captain Virat Kohli for the third wicket and guided his team to an emphatic series win. Pant also finished the match in style when he smashed Carlos Brathwaite for a maximum to hit the winning runs.

The 21-year-old, who is expected to Dhoni's successor was widely criticised for his shot selection in the first two games but came up trumps in third T20I.

Pant has an opportunity to establish himself as MS Dhoni's successor in the limited-overs format in the latter's absence.

"We are looking at him (Pant) as the future. He has got a lot of skill and lot of talent. It is about giving him some space and not putting too much of pressure," the skipper made his intentions clear. He has been around for a couple of years now and Kohli feels that he will soon start finishing games more consistently.

"He's come a long way since he's started. It's about winning and finishing games like these. In international cricket, you need to tackle pressure differently. If he plays like this regularly, we will see his potential shine for India," Kohli said.