03:05Kohli will break most of Tendulkar's records barring one: Sehwag

NEW DELHI: It's no secret that young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is the frontrunner to be the long term replacement for MS Dhoni , whenever the former India captain hangs up his gloves.Former India opener Virender Sehwag also feels Pant is the best option to replace Dhoni.“I think Rishabh Pant is the best one (option). He proved himself in Test cricket and now he may prove himself in ODIs and T20Is again. He is the best guy to replace MS Dhoni,” Sehwag told Timesofindia.com in an interview.Dhoni announced his retirement from Tests during the Australia tour in 2014 and since then the team and the selection committee have been looking for a long term replacement in the longest format.Wriddhiman Saha had a great chance to cement his place but injuries have marred his chances. In his absence, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel were given opportunities but the duo failed to impress.Pant, who was handed a Test debut in the third Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in 2018, has played 9 Tests (15 completed innings) so far and scored 696 runs at an average of 49.71, including two centuries and two fifties.“He (Pant) will take some time. If he corrects his shot selection, he will serve Team India for a long time,” Sehwag told TimesofIndia.com.“I am sure in the coming three or four years, you will see Pant opening for the team. He has the capability to open the innings in the limited-overs format,” the former India opener said on the sidelines of the launch of 'The Selector' app.Sehwag also spoke about the ICC ODI World Cup semi-final which India lost recently in heartbreaking fashion against New Zealand.The Nawab of Najafgarh feels it could have been a completely different situation if MS Dhoni had come higher up the order in Manchester.After being unbeaten in the league stage and topping the points table, India were knocked out of the mega tournament after they failed to chase down a 240 run target and lost to the Black Caps by 18 runs. Dhoni came in at number 7, behind Karthik and Hardik Pandya and was run out for 50.“I was doing commentary at that time. I was the one who was saying that MS Dhoni should come at number four or five because he was the experienced and better player in that team who can handle pressure better than anybody else. So, I think MS Dhoni was the right choice,” Sehwag said.Sehwag also praised new kid on the block, pacer Navdeep Saini , who he thinks can perhaps play all formats of the game.“He is a very good prospect. I have seen him playing for Delhi. He used to come for the Delhi Ranji team as a net bowler and then DDCA picked him for Ranji Trophy games. After that he played IPL and he performed well. He performed for India A and now he is playing for India,” he said.“I am very happy for him. He is a good lad who comes from a very humble background. Hopefully, he does well for Team India as well. His T20I debut was fantastic and hopefully he plays all formats very soon,” Sehwag signed off.