Former Indian selector Kiran More stated he will pick both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI for the upcoming Asia Cup. Pant is backed as the wicket-keeper batsman of the team and he is expected to bat at number four while Karthik could take the role of the finisher.

Pant hasn’t quite grabbed his chances in the T20I format while Karthik has been consistently providing the finishing touches. The veteran batter had scored a quickfire knock of 41 runs off just 19 balls in the first T20I against West Indies.

Furthermore, Karthik had scored 330 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022 at an impressive strike rate of 183.33.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant had recently scored 125 runs off just 113 balls against England in the third ODI.

“In my playing XI, both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik will play. If the idea is for Dinesh Karthik to sit outside, then I will not take him to tours. He has performed very well in the recent times, he has been given the role of the specialist finisher as well,” Kiran More said.

More backed Pant to deliver the goods despite the fact that he hasn’t performed consistently in the T20 format.

“Rishabh Pant has not made a lot of runs in that role, and he has struggled a little as well. But he is a super player, and I will definitely play him. I will probably sit out Deepak Hooda from the team and play with Hardik Pandya, Pant, Karthik and Jadeja,” he further added.

Before the Asia Cup, India will face Zimbabwe in three-match ODI series, in which Shikhar Dhawan will lead the team.

India will begin their Asia Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 28th August.

India Squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan

Back-up: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel.