Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who was part of India's World Cup winning outings in 2007 and 2011, has said that there is no place for Rishabh Pant in the team if MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik feature in the playing XI for World Cup 2019.

He feels it will be tough for Pant to feature in the XI in their presence. 

Rishabh was left out of the limited-overs side for ODI series against Australia where Dhoni scored three consecutive fifties and was picked as the man of the series. Even Karthik stepped up when needed and eased down the pressure from the other end in the second game.

"I don't think so. They've got MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik there. He (Pant) can wait for his opportunity. He's obviously done well in Tests and he has got the right things with him," said Gambhir as quoted by Sportskeeda. "But if you have got MS Dhoni, who has just bagged the Man of the Series, he deserves to be there now. India needs someone like MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik close to the World Cup. He's been in decent form over the last four-five months and a couple of series. The good thing is Pant is keeping them on their toes, which is always a good sign for Indian cricket. The youngsters are pushing the seniors".

Last year MSK Prasad, the chief selector had openly backed Pant for World Cup 2019.

"There is absolutely no doubt that he is among one of those wicketkeepers (in contention for the World Cup). All the three shortlisted keepers are doing well. He is definitely part of our World Cup plans. It's a part of the workload management we are following," Prasad told India Today.

(With Sportskeeda Inputs)